Saratoga Notebook

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. -- It was quiet trackside at Saratoga Race Course Friday morning. Everyone had a day off after the New York Racing Association canceled Friday's card after Thursday's was run. The reason was the havoc expected to blow through the area thanks to the remnants of Tropical Storm Debby. The heavy stuff was predicted to come later in the afternoon. Horses, however, did not get the memo. They still went to work. As did the trainers and exercise riders and grooms and hotwalkers. "No days off," Hall of...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - At 4 a.m. Thursday morning, trainer Kenny McPeek changed the game. With the prospect of stormy weather on the horizon courtesy of the remnants of Tropical Storm Debby, McPeek decided to move up the work of his star filly, Thorpedo Anna (Fast Anna). So, instead of a Saturday breeze for Thorpedo Anna, she went five furlongs in :59.59 (1/4) on the Oklahoma Training Track with exercise rider Danny Ramsey at 5:30 a.m. Thursday morning. Thorpedo Anna is being pointed to the $1.25-million GI Travers Stakes at...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Back at his office on the Oklahoma Training Track Wednesday morning, Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott was trying to describe the four-furlong work he had just seen from his 3-year-old colt Batten Down (Tapit). "Wooosh," was one of the sounds he made. "Phhhffftt," was another. The cartoon melodies made by Mott were, supposedly, offered to show how impressive the grey/roan Batten Down looked to him. Batten Down was timed in :48 (2/13) in the move on the Oklahoma Training Track. It was his first work...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.--There is a good reason why White Sands (Into Mischief), the 3-1 morning-line favorite for Sunday's $200,000, GIII Adirondack for 2-year-old fillies at Saratoga Race Course, isn't going to run. She's not here. Trainer Wesley Ward said Saturday morning on the Saratoga backstretch that White Sands is at Keeneland and likely waiting for one of two races at Del Mar next weekend: the $150,000 GIII Sorrento for 2-year-old fillies on Aug. 10 or the $150,000 GIII Best Pal Stakes for 2-year-olds on Aug. 11. White Sands, owned by...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.--Here is what's next at Saratoga Race Course. Next (Not This Time) is. The 6-year-old gelding is the best long-distance dirt horse in the country, and, on Sunday, he'll attempt to prove it again when he runs in the $150,000 listed Birdstone Stakes at the Spa. If you want to see it, get to Saratoga early. The Birdstone is race No. 2 and has a scheduled post time of 1:44 p.m. A field of five is entered in the 1 3/4-mile Birdstone and Next is the overwhelming 1-9...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.--After the impressive win in the GII Jim Dandy Stakes at Saratoga Race Course last weekend, the chances of the winner, Fierceness (City of Light) showing up in the $1.25, GI Travers Stakes were--take your pick--slim and none. Much has changed in the last few days and now Fierceness may very well be on his way to a date with the likes of Dornoch (Good Magic), Sierra Leone (Gun Runner) and the filly, Thorpedo Anna (Fast Anna). "That is what we are thinking about," Hall of Fame trainer...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.--Just over seven weeks ago, National Treasure (Quality Road) made his claim as the best older in the country when he rolled in the GI Metropolitan Handicap at Saratoga Race Course. Trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, National Treasure dominated five others on the way to a 6 1/4-length win. What can he do for an encore? We'll find out Saturday when Baffert saddles National Treasure--the 9-5 morning-line favorite--in the 97th running of the $1 million GI Whitney Stakes at the Spa. The race is a "Win...

SARATOGA SPINGS, N.Y. - It's 'Post Time' for the 97th running of the $1-million GI Whitney Stakes. Well, actually, the race is still a week away, but if you are trainer Brittany Russell, you're darn right it's Post Time. As in Post Time (Frosted), the 4-year-old colt that will make a return trip to Saratoga Race Course. Last month, Post Time, owned by Hillwood Stable, LLC, won the race for second in the GI Metropolitan Handicap. Post Time beat Hoist the Gold (Mineshaft) by a neck. No one was going...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - In her days as a Thoroughbred horse trainer, Keri Brion has been associated mainly with steeplechase runners. And she has no problem with that. The jump game has been good to her. Since opening her own stable, the former assistant to the late Hall of Famer Jonathan Sheppard has trained an Eclipse Award Steeplechase horse in The Mean Queen (Ire) (Doyen {Ire}), who won it in 2021, her first year. But there is more to her training game, and she made people take notice. On Thursday,...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - It has been a sizzling start to the Saratoga summer for Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse. Horses from his barn have done little wrong in the first 11 days of the 40-day meet at Saratoga Race Course. Casse has started 19 horses so far and has visited the winner's circle six times. He also has three second-place finishes and one third. Without question this is the best start he has ever had at the Spa. "Oh, by far," Casse said at his barn on the...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.--In his last eight starts, Skippylongstocking (Exaggerator) has run at eight different racetracks. If trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. chooses the $1 million GI Whitney Stakes at Saratoga Race Course for the 5-year-old's next start, it will be nine. Joseph said he is mulling over what is next for Skippy, who was last seen finishing third--missing second by a head--in the GI Stephen Foster Stakes at Churchill Downs on June 29. That was his first start since winning the GII Oaklawn Handicap on April 20. Besides the Whitney, Joseph...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Jockey Manny Franco was on Honor Marie's (Honor Code) back when the colt hit the Oklahoma Training Track at 7:30 Saturday morning. That doesn't mean Franco will be there when Honor Marie runs in the GI Travers Stakes on Aug. 24. Honor Marie worked four furlongs in :48.75 with 2-year-old stablemate Fiddling Felix (Mendelssohn) as he continues to train up to the Midsummer Derby. Franco answered the call to work the horse because trainer Whit Beckman doesn't have an abundance of exercise riders at his disposal...