As I walk the rambunctious pup at dusk, the season’s BIGGEST RACE now done, far more important people than me are jetting overhead, up and out of the County airport, to destinations more pressing or latitudes more impressive than Saratoga Springs. Perhaps Their Horse Lost, one can only surmise. Perhaps they are sheiks in that airborne vehicle, or one of the American billionaires hereabouts. In any case, they are of another ilk than earthbound folk like me, though I too am NOT partaking of the local post-race Commotion, Celebration, and outright Partying that will play out tonight among the wealthy and the hoi polloi alike, as it does almost every day of summer in this hot and famous little town, but especially on this, The Day of The Travers.
It is dubbed the 4th Leg of the Triple Crown, I learned for the thirty-eight year in a row, as I had watched the Horse Race Spectacle from the comfort of my family-less family room, given superb coverage by NBC on National TV. Like a vicarious tourist at home, I enjoyed all the recognizable shots of spots downtown & around town. Certainly itz fun and unusual to see that–LIVE!– on a Saturday 4:30- 6pm slot, with heavyweight announcers like Tom Hammond, Randy Moss, and former master jockey Jerry Bailey extolling the virtues of our fair city. I had the wide-screen SAMSUNG to myself, what with my family lake-bound to the far north while I work at least a half day every day, and make up for lost time… having spent too much of it in nostalgia-land following a high school reunion last weekend. But that’s a separate blog…
The race that caught my interest more than the main event was the first of the two to be televised on the Day’s card– The Ballerina– and it was really the first full fledged race I’ve watched from start to finish all season so far. I was drawn to the #1 horse right away, due to its exotic name: ARTEMIS AGROTERA. Not only was his name cool, so was his trainer (a laconic dude named Mike Hushion), his incredible jockey du jour (Rajiv Maragh), and especially his owner… Chester Broman of Chestertown Farms, whom the TV announcers noted as owning a breeding farm just “50 Miles north of Saratoga.” Since he originally hails from one of the wealthier parts of Connecticut, the connection to “Chestertown, NY” seems an apt coincidence rather than part of his birthright.
In any case his 3 year old bay filly blew away the much-touted competition with a
stretch run that was pure beauty, winning by six and a half lengths. Even to a non-fanatic like me this horse looked impressive, and she becomes my reason to tune into the Breeders Cup in the fall, (also to be broadcast by NBC). I have a new rooting interest, it seems.
The Travers itself, the 12th of a 14 race-card that day, was a much more compelling race, and also made for some good television. I got a kick out of the fact that “The Big Three” in this race: horses named BAYERN, TONALIST, and WICKED STRONG were touted heavily and had their back-stories told during the pre-race buildup. But the eventual winner, V.E. DAY, was not mentioned once as a possible winner by any on the on-air prognosticators, much to my delight. He came out of nowhere and you didn’t hear his name once it seemed until Tom Dirkin (in his Final Travers Call!) was singing it out: “and HERE COMES V.E. DAY!! Running down WICKED STRONG…” who had had the lead the whole second half of the race, until the last two seconds. Amazing finish, with momentum on the side of jockey Javier Castellano, the hottest rider in America apparently, who knew his horse had won before any of the officials or pundits confirmed it. He piloted a perfectly timed surge by that horse, owned by a woman named Magalen O. Bryant, who seemed quite overcome with joy and disbelief in the aftermath.
The other cool thing I didn’t realize till the race was over was that the two top horses involved were both trained by Jimmy Jerkens, the only trainer with two in the race, albeit for different owners. The owners of Centennial Farm in the Boston area had gotten a lot of good PR after some rough times, it seems, based on the horse named after the trademark spirit of that city. I was truthfully rooting for WICKED STRONG to win on that basis, and NBC seemed to be steering their story that way. But V.E. Day
stole the show in a way that told me NBC had not prepared for that eventuality. The fanfare was unscripted, and then after much hype and hoopla, the Travers was over.
I bet, in retrospect, that it was the owner of last place finisher BAYERN who was flying out so quickly after the race. There was no reason for him to stick around. But there would be other races, elsewhere, I’m sure.
Till next time,
Wayne, for WaynesWord2, on saratoga.com