Bubbles
07-15-2003, 10:14 AM
Hey all...
It's that time of year again. The heat, the sun, the rain when you don't exactly need it, and the opening of historic Saratoga racecourse.
There's no air conditioning. There's no slots. It isn't a track without 21st-century technology....
BULL.
It's not Belmont, where you can go there every day for a year and not see every square foot. It isn't Aqueduct, where a winterized track detracts from the racing talent.
This is the Spa, where horseplayers like you and me can sit back, relax, and win and lose money the old-fashioned way; looking in the paddock and see who's the angriest or calmest or whatever your preference. Sit wherever, eat wherever, drink wherever(stay away from the Big Red Spring). This might be the one track where cushy accomodations and royal last names like Kennedy can actually take away from the fun of Saratoga.
Saratoga's distinction through the years has been the "Graveyard of Favorites." Not true. According to recent statistics, favorites at Saratoga have actually won MORE than the nationwide average. The nickname "The Graveyard of Champions" is more correct.
Memories like Man O' War's defeat at the hands of Upset and Onion's improbable triumph over Secretariat are impossible to forget. Relatively recent upsets such as Runaway Groom's win in the Midsummer Derby over the three winners of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and Belmont still remain crystal-clear in the minds of those who saw the horses in soaring flight. When Behrens and Victory Gallop engaged each other for five-sixteenths of a mile in the Whitney that made the race what it is today, you were jumping right along with them. Admit it.
This year at Saratoga, Eclipse hopefuls Mineshaft, Medaglia d'Oro, Empire Maker, and Funny Cide, as well as Zimbabwe champ Ipi Tombe, will attempt to escape the wrath of the Spa's legend. Who will be this year's Onion, and which steed will assume the role of Secretariat? We'll know by Labor Day.
It's that time of year again. The heat, the sun, the rain when you don't exactly need it, and the opening of historic Saratoga racecourse.
There's no air conditioning. There's no slots. It isn't a track without 21st-century technology....
BULL.
It's not Belmont, where you can go there every day for a year and not see every square foot. It isn't Aqueduct, where a winterized track detracts from the racing talent.
This is the Spa, where horseplayers like you and me can sit back, relax, and win and lose money the old-fashioned way; looking in the paddock and see who's the angriest or calmest or whatever your preference. Sit wherever, eat wherever, drink wherever(stay away from the Big Red Spring). This might be the one track where cushy accomodations and royal last names like Kennedy can actually take away from the fun of Saratoga.
Saratoga's distinction through the years has been the "Graveyard of Favorites." Not true. According to recent statistics, favorites at Saratoga have actually won MORE than the nationwide average. The nickname "The Graveyard of Champions" is more correct.
Memories like Man O' War's defeat at the hands of Upset and Onion's improbable triumph over Secretariat are impossible to forget. Relatively recent upsets such as Runaway Groom's win in the Midsummer Derby over the three winners of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and Belmont still remain crystal-clear in the minds of those who saw the horses in soaring flight. When Behrens and Victory Gallop engaged each other for five-sixteenths of a mile in the Whitney that made the race what it is today, you were jumping right along with them. Admit it.
This year at Saratoga, Eclipse hopefuls Mineshaft, Medaglia d'Oro, Empire Maker, and Funny Cide, as well as Zimbabwe champ Ipi Tombe, will attempt to escape the wrath of the Spa's legend. Who will be this year's Onion, and which steed will assume the role of Secretariat? We'll know by Labor Day.