Secrets of the Spa

Besides the beautiful views, both human and equine, and thegreat classic racing, Saratoga Race Course offers handicappers a number ofdifficult things to examine on a day-to-day basis.

For the 142nd time, Saratoga will swing its doorsopen this Friday and the Grade 3 Schuylerville for juveniles will kick off thestakes action. The highlight of the first weekend is the Grade 1 Coaching ClubAmerican Oaks.

Mother Nature will come into play at this meet for sure andwe all know the weather will come. It can ruin a grass schedule quicker thanyou can say flash thunderstorm and just like on the dirt track, all turfcourses can play different when they get some moisture seeping in.

Saratoga has been called the Spa, and the Graveyard of Favorites,and you better pay strict attention to last moniker before eating chalk thismeeting.

A good handicapper must also try to identify key racesbefore they become super obvious. One of the tools to help with that task isthe Beyer Pars that are published in DRF Simulcast Weekly. Starting from a$15,000 claimer, then going to the N5X level, the Beyer pars are listed.Generally speaking a $75,000 claimer would be on target if that runner posts a95 Beyer figure. If you witness a race where the winner for that level recordssomething in the 101 or 102 range, you may be on to a key race far ahead of thecrowd.

Just like at most other venues, speed is extremely potentgoing short on dirt and you can go wire-to-wire going long on dirt under theright circumstance.

On the grass, it can pretty much be pick a number at the topof the lane. The fields will be competitive, with comebackers, Europeans, andshippers mixed in with those coming up from Belmont.

One thing to pay attention to is the main track onlyrunners. They will be designated in the Racing Form as such and will be in theoutside slots generally. If the rains come, and grass races are taken off thesod, these horses are prime time contenders. First off the race will be losingquite a bit of luster as the top bred grass runners are gone and the fieldswill be in all likelihood short and sweet and compact.

Even with all the regally bred runners that have beenpositioned to debut at Saratoga, the experienced runners could offer the bestvalue. They have a race or two under the belt and are more accustomed to whatcould shake them up at race day.

Don’t be scared to take shots with comebackers at this meet.All the pretty people have likely instructed-their well-paid conditioners tosave some live runners for this meet. Nothing can be finer than to take a nicelittle contingent down to the winner’s circle before dinner and drinks at somefancy restaurant.

As far as the humans are concerned, the usual suspect as intrainers will dominate. These of course are the Bill Motts, the Todd Pletchers,the Steve Asmussens and the Barclay Taggs of the world.

Last year was kind of a freaky deal as Linda Rice won withjust about everything she saddled. She was the leading trainer over Pletcher byone race despite saddling 60 fewer horses.

Barring the strange fickle finger of fate, Ramon Dominguezwill retain his Saratoga title.