Saturday, July 31, 2010

Live blog for Saturday, July 31

For live race results and updates throughout the day, check out our Twitter stream.

7:09 p.m.: Maram gave us all a thrill when she hung gamely in the stretch, threatening to pull a big upset in the Diana and give trainer Chad Brown of Mechanicville his first Grade I. But in the end, it was Proviso taking her third straight win at racing's highest level for Bill Mott.


Some half an hour later, A Little Warm took the Jim Dandy, the local Travers prep, for trainer Tony Dutrow. Bold words in the winner's circle: "If he comes out of it [well]...I wish the Travers was tomorrow."



4:42 p.m.: Don't worry, I haven't died. Just about to head downstairs to the paddock and rail for the Diana, and then the Jim Dandy. For many reasons, I think trying to carry a laptop along would be a bad idea. So keep an eye on Twitter (@thepinksheet) for race results, and come back here for color commentary after!

4:10 p.m.: Settle For Medal runs down Astrology and Volcker to take the maiden in the sixth. As you may have read in Rising Stars this morning, Settle For Medal is a half to the brilliantly speedy filly Mani Bhavan, as well as the nice Dattt Echo, who runs here Wednesday - overnights were just released.

Arcodoro just pulled a 44-1 shocker in the seventh, leading wire to wire! At least one person in this grandstand hit it - some pretty jubilant screaming down below.

1:24 p.m.: Looking ahead at the rest of the card, there are several interesting horses that will be fun to watch. Old Friends at Cabin Creek: The Bobby Frankel Division recently celebrated its grand opening in nearby Greenfield Center. I'm going to enjoy watching a trio of runners with Cabin Creek connections in the fourth. Ducale is a son of Travers winner Will's Way, who recently moved up to the New York division of Old Friends after he was pensioned to the original Kentucky branch some years ago. Jim's Applemartini races for Repole Stable, whose Cool N collective is a Cabin Creek retiree, and Mount Karakorum is owned by, of course, Karakorum Racing, the original owners of retiree Karakorum Patriot. For those who missed the big news out of Old Friends at Cabin Creek today, Kentucky Derby winner Funny Cide is visiting the farm for the next week and will be available for fans to meet at several times. You read it on the Saratogian first, folks.
The fifth race features several horses with graded placings in Caberneigh, Rescue Squad, El Crespo and Thabazimbi. Representing the New York-breds in the race is Pocket Cowboys, winner of last year's New York Derby.
In the sixth, featuring 2-year-old maidens, Astrology is a prospect I've had my eye on for awhile. As a son of AP Indy, out of a Quiet American mare, he should be better going two turns - still, am eagerly anticipating his career debut.
Here's Astrology, the bay out in front, galloping with stablemates Brock (chestnut) and Albergatti on Monday morning.

1:06 p.m.: Yesterday, six of the day's nine races were decided by a half length or less. That trend may have continued over to today. In the first race, the William B. Fasig overnight, four horses hit the wire together. Exclusive Scheme, trained by Billy Badgett, upset the race when her stablemate, the favored Chestoria, lacked running room up the rail. Fun start to the day.

10:20 a.m.: Hello racing fans, and welcome to the live blog for a busy Saturday at the Spa. Two big races on tap today. In the Grade I Diana, Eclipse champion Forever Together tries to become the first runner to make it a three-peat in the historic race. However, she hasn't won since last year's Diana - although she hasn't been unplaced, either - and faces a small but select field that includes Proviso, a two-time Grade I winner this year, and Phola and My Princess Jess, who were second and third behind Proviso last time out. A live longshot is Chad Brown's Maram, a Breeders' Cup winner herself who is 2-for-2 at Saratoga. Brown, of course, takes the training lead into today's card. The Grade II Jim Dandy, the local Travers prep, is also on tap today. Although all the big names (Super Saver, Lookin At Lucky) have gone down to Monmouth for tomorrow's Grade I Haskell, we're left with an incredibly deep and well-matched field of sophomores, headed up by Dwyer winner and Belmont runner-up Fly Down. These two stakes, along with the William B. Fasig overnight stakes, headline a busy 11-race card featuring plenty of full fields. Stay tuned for more...

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