Longshots Abound In Saratoga’s Opening Weekend
The curtains rose on another year of racing at Saratoga Gaming and Raceway this weekend and it didn’t take long to realize that the 70th year of live racing at the Spa could be the longshots’ year. Oftentimes at the start of the meet, longshots thrive as some of the favorites are favored mainly due to a resume that saw them end the 2009 season in strong fashion. One of the biggest things to keep your eye on is whether the horse or horses in a race have either raced during the wintertime or have at least competed in a qualifier since the conclusion of the ‘09 Saratoga meet back in December. Since there are many more elements early in the season that factor in to which horse may win any given race, there tends to be a propensity for longshots to thrive in the first few weeks of the season. If opening weekend is any indicator on what the next month will consist of, I recommend you come to the track and take a shot with some longshots!
Friday night was opening night and on a pleasant March evening for harness racing action, the longshots did their thing. While the opener was won by the favorite (Princess Tiana, Dan Cappello Jr), the horses that emerged as the public’s choice did not fare nearly as well for the remainder of the evening. Friday’s third race saw Movie Star Shuttle, the longest shot on the board at 19-1, storm home for the victory and return $41.60 to win and start out the pick three with a longshot. The rest of the pick three went the way of 9-1 shots as Fiesta Camcun and Kiwi Demand N scored at $20+ mutuels.
The longshots just kept coming on Friday as the year’s first open saw the 1-5 favorite Shutter Boy be defeated (despite a strong and valiant effort) and Cyber Hall record the shocker. Dismissed at 30-1, Brian Allen’s Cyber Hall took advantage of fast early fractions to cruise by his rivals in the stretch and record the upset in 1:58.4. Cyber Hall returned $62.50 to win, just another in a night of longshot winners. Later in the night, another 9-1 shot reigned supreme as Sj’sinthedough scored in the evening’s 12th race.
Saturday saw the first of the new double headers be featured at Saratoga. The afternoon program started at 12:45pm while the nighttime card kicked off at 7:05pm. The matinee took place under sunny skies, with temperatures in the mid 40’s. A perfect March afternoon for harness racing action and an even better afternoon for longshot players. Right out of the gate, longshot Forbettororpurse (Don Simmonds) prevailed in the day’s opener, scoring a first over victory at 24-1. Another $50+ win ticket! But it wasn’t the biggest price of the day, not by a longshot! Richie’s Fella flew home in the stretch for Chris Long, getting past his competition to record the win in the afternoon’s fifth race, surprising at 41-1. A win price of $85 resulted. Again, that win sum seemed paltry compared to what would emerge in the evening’s eighth race. Eastover Court, who won the track’s award for claiming pacer of the year for his level in 2009 was ignored by the betting public…and understandably. Though he had a great year last year, most of his damage was done in the $10,000 claiming ranks. Plus, the veteran pacer hadn’t raced since December, though he did have a February qualifier as a prep. Starting from post seven in a nine horse field meant that the classy Andy Sardella trainee would likely have too tough of a trip ahead of him to due any significant damage. Longshot weekend continued though and the twelve year old pacer flew home to pull off the unlikely win while dismissed at an amazing 85-1. $171.00 to win for Eastover Court and the big prices just kept coming. You can sometimes go a month without an eighty dollar horse at Saratoga but on opening weekend, you were almost as likely to find a big price than you were a favorite prevailing at the Spa.
There were some favorites that did good work on opening weekend as well and one in particular who is no stranger to the Saratoga winner’s circle. Rare Jewel made his local debut back in 2006 and set the track record with an historic 1:51 win. Ever since, he has seemingly won at will. The Yonkers based pacer usually comes to town around a dozen times a year and when Rare Jewel sees the Spa oval, his eyes must light up. The Rich Banca-trained pacer wins at a higher clip than any horse in the past decade at the Spa and Saturday night was no different. Driver Dan Cappello Jr rolled the 4-5 favorite to the front end and despite working hard to get there, held strong to record a two and a quarter length win in the $15,500 open pace. The win was the first of the year for Rare Jewel after facing very strong competition at Yonkers all winter long. An earner of over $1.15 million in his illustrious career, Rare Jewel has something he loves about Saratoga. Now a nine year old, the veteran set his seasonal mark at the Spa last year with a 1:52.4 summertime score. He isn’t far away from matching that time already as he dazzled with a 1:53.3 on Saturday night. An incredible start to the Saratoga meet by an incredible horse.
Live racing continues this weekend with a Friday night program at 7:05pm and continues all day and night Saturday when a double header takes place. Sunday afternoon wraps up a wall-to-wall weekend of racing at Saratoga Gaming and Raceway with a matinee that kicks off at 12:45pm. Until next week, I’m Mike Sardella wishing you the best of luck and we’ll see YOU at the finish line!
Mike Sardella