Re: Saratoga or DelMar...who's is going and When? (548 Views)
Posted by:
richiebee (IP Logged)
Date: July 20, 2006 12:28PM
NCT:
So far my only commitment is for 3 weekdays, Aug 9- 10- 11.
Can not believe its almost 25 years since 1982, the year I had perfect attendance at the Spa (only 28 racing days then). I was working as a night watchman for a Kentucky trainer who trained for a man who was tired of never getting stalls from NYRA, so he built a brand new private barn about two blocks outside the gate near the 7/8s pole.
In 1982, there were a lot of weather cancellations downstate, and they raced for 28 consecutive days at Saratoga. (Thats how sacred the 4 week Spa format was then, they would have never considered making up the lost days by adding a week in July or September). The racing highlight of the meet was a Travers which featured three separate Triple Crown race winners (Gato del Sol, Aloma's Ruler and Conquistador Cielo, all left in the wake of longshot Runaway Groom).
The trainer I worked for was known for braiding his animals' tails and manes on race day and putting pom poms in the animals' manes. I think he had about 30 starts with 1 or 2 on the board finishes. Steve Crist profiled the trainer in a NY Times article he titled "Beautiful Losers". As I recall, a lot of the "Beautiful Losers" returned to Keeneland and Churchill in the fall and won at a price off the very poor Spa form.