Good horse, or merely Saratoga Horse for Course?

Ed Fountaine glibly noted Garrett Gomez peeked back at the field "a track record six times" in his victorious Friday return. Breeders Cup factor, or the favorite for next years Dubai World Cup and Whitney?

Thank Allah the Arabs own DisCat. American/European owners/breeders probably would have retired DC by now. Ditto Bernardini and maybe Henny. I think the Dubai gang are the real sports in the game today, and the rest of us are just trying to scratch a few bucks together.

Speaking of the Breeder's Cup, I heard on TVG that D Dutrow has already announced that Silver Train will be skipping the BC Sprint. He will attempt (again, heard it on TVG) to secure the Eclipse Award by winning the Vosburgh at Belmont and the Cigar Mile at Aqueduct. (search "Sprint Division" 7/19/06, it seems like I sensed this).

Reminds me of last year's Sprint Division, when I thought that the best way for LITF to secure the Eclipse was to SKIP the BC Sprint and rest on his laurels. He ran, he lost and he won the Eclipse anyway.

Note that I "disclaimed" TVG twice above. I do not have any reason to trust anything they say about NYRA racing, NYRA people or NYRA horses. Their coverage of California racing is primary and their coverage of all other circuits secondary. Their on-air "talent" comes predominantly from California, Florida and Minnesota (of all places), and their lack of familiarity with NY trainers and riders is often laughter provoking.

WARNING: Personal Opinion follows, not even marginally related to Racing:

On the drive up to Saratoga this month, noted that the posted speed limit on the NY State Thruway was 70 mph. I would estimate that most of the traffic was traveling well above 80 mph. I do not know if there is a significant difference with regards to fuel efficiency between 70 mph and 80 mph, but I know that if the 70 mph limit was strictly enforced, alot of us would get angry, some would get vocal. Hell, it would take me nearly 4 hours to get to the Spa from my house, rather than 3-1/2. A lot of us would chafe at making this small sacrifice for the sake of conservation...

...and our enemies seem to be more than willing to make ANY sacrifice.