A Saratoga wrap up, best and worst

This is one of the darkest days of the year for many. The meet we await all year is done. The thing that makes Saratoga special above the racing is the fact that its the only time all year long that everyone gathers in the same spot. The company is enjoyed as much as the races. Heres a personal wrap up of the meet.

Best Performance by a horse- Bernadini's Travers was the performance of the meet. It was one of those races that noone will ever forget where they were standing and watching when he turned the Travers into a personal romp. WIns this hands down.

Worst performance by a horse- Flower Alley's Woodward. After he returned to the races this year, many who thought he was HOY material were awaiting his Spa races. After failing in the WHitney, the Woodward was his chance to redeem himself and get back in the picture. To watch a horse who had battled so nicely in the BCC as a three year old run as horribly as he did officially burst his bubble and put him out of the picture.

Best single ride by a jockey- Johnny V's ride on Baymont in a 40 claimer for fillies and mares has to be seen to be appreciated. It was mind blowing.

Worst ride by a jockey- Garrett Gomez ride on Milwaukee early in the meet was as bad a ride as any I have ever seen. In trouble for a mile and 3/8th's of a mile and a half race. Has to be seen to be appreciated.

Best performance by a jockey at the meet- Julien leparoux may not be the best rider up here, but his meet was incredible. Not only did he smash the apprentice record up here, he won stakes and allowances and MSW's with very cool and competent rides. Its very hard for a bug boy to do well at the Spa. Its also very hard for a Kentucky rider to ship iin win a lot of races. As good as pat Day and Shane sellers ever were, neither one ever came here and set the place on fire. Its hard to hustle mounts from NY trainers when all your connections are KY guys. WIth the exception of Blasi(who leparoux rarely if ever rides for) the Ky contingent was awful up here and Leparoux had to build a client base of Ny trainers. he started slow but once he had the momentum and had won folks over, he rode extremely well.

WOrst performance by a jockey- I didn't really see any jock who rode poorly the whole meet. It was the deepest colony in history and even the guys who only eeked out a small number of wins actually rode well considering who they were up against.

Best performance by a trainer- Although Todd won more races and stakes races than anyone else, I also have to give Kudos to Scott Blasi who deserves one HELL of a lot of credit for his performance up here. He managed to win a high percentage number of races, two juvenile stakes races including the Spinaway, and accomplished this while on his own while Asmussen serves a suspension. His horses really fired, and it looks like his two year olds will be heard from throughout the fall. Especially that Tiznow freak.

Worst performance by a trainer- Its a tie for the Kentucky contingent of Dallas Stewart and Dale Romans. Both were hitting on all cylinders in KY all year long before coming to the Spa and going ice cold. Stewart never got a win, and Romans underperformed beneath his usually gaudy win percentage. ATM usage was at a record high this meet when those guys ran early in the meet before anyone figured out that they were cold. It just wasn't their meet.

Best performance by a host- Stevie fed literally hundreds of guests all meet long as well as hosting TG's seminar and and saving picnic tables so that friends of his could enjoy the races. On a scale of 1-10 as a host, Steve is a 50!!!

Best performance by a newspaper- When the Saratoga Special first started back after Sean Clancy was injured in a jump race and switched professions, it was a small paper that seemed like a passing fad. In its short history its become a saratoga tradition. Incredibly well written late into each night, it provides a vast array of current news and previous days happenings, interesting interviews with players in the game, hysterical quotes from the backside, and very good editorials. WHat these guys have done is incredible. They've taken a small paper written in a small office, and brought it to MUST READ status in a small amount of time. They work their butts off and know what they are talking about.