Opening Day at the Spa-Full Field Friday

It’s still a little weird for me getting used to the early start at Saratoga, but the juices are starting to flow for me. It seems the people are ready if you want to go by anecdotal evidence of the buzz around town. Yesterday I had some business to do in downtown Saratoga around 2 pm and it was crowded. Everything seemed to be bustling and no one was around griping about the 40 days. I guess even if you think this year the Meet is too long, once you get up here, you just feel in a better mood and forget about it.

The entries for opening day at Saratoga are out and available for viewing at the NYRA website.

First thing I noticed was the full fields, quite a difference from the last few weeks at Belmont, where short fields and short purses seemed the norm. Of the days 10 races, 7 have at least 10 entries.

The feature race is the Grade III $100,000 Schuylerville Stakes for 2 year old fillies, won last year by Hot Dixie Chick.

Another nice race is the ungraded James Marvin Stakes (won last year by Gold Trippi) featuring familiar names such as You and I Forever, Cool Coal Man, Vineyard Haven, Friesan Fire, and Le Grand Cru. With betting spread out in this10 horse field, this should be one nice betting race.

In addition to the Schuylerville Stakes there is a 2 year old Maiden Special Weight race (the 7th), for fillies with a $50,000 purse.

On a down note, for the first time in recent memory, no races for the 2 year old colts, something I always looked forward to on opening day. Don't understand the logic of having the 2 year old colts skip opening day.

Last years opening day had two races for 2 year old colts, a Maiden NY Bred race won by Come From Behind and a $55,000 Maiden race for 2 year old colts won by Westover Wildcat. The hot 3 year old of this years early summer season, Trappe Shot, finished out of the money in that race.