Summer Horse Racing Highlights: Saratoga & Del Mar

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00:00Dave Aragona is with the Daily Racing Forum, and of course, you can follow him on Axe for

00:09free at Horse to Watch and make all kinds of money.

00:12We're going to have a Daily Racing Forum here every Friday, and Dave mostly will be the

00:17guy that we're talking to about everything going on all summer long with the ponies.

00:23And Saratoga, the spa, started up yesterday, you know, one of the greatest places in America

00:29for horse racing.

00:30We've talked about it before with the Belmont being moved up there, but spa season is truly

00:36one of the coolest things going in horse racing anywhere.

00:39Yeah, I know most casual sports fans are aware of the Triple Crown, maybe the Breeders' Cup

00:45in the fall, but the hardcore horse players, real horse racing fans, love the summer season

00:51because you get Saratoga on the East Coast, you get Del Mar out on the West Coast, and

00:56it just brings together some of the best horses in the country, the best trainers,

01:00best jockeys, all converging in one place for some high-level racing for a series of

01:04about two months during the summer from mid-July right on through Labor Day.

01:08So definitely looking forward to this meet that just kicked off yesterday.

01:11So 40 race days in total, and you talk about some of the best horses and trainers and jockeys.

01:19Who are your favorites this summer up in Saratoga that are already running as of yesterday?

01:26Well, definitely looking forward to the Traverse Stakes, which is about six weeks into the

01:33meet that's going to take place on August 24th.

01:36That's kind of the next logical step for the horses that competed through the Triple Crown

01:40races.

01:41TBD on whether the Derby winner Mystic Dan is going to wind up there.

01:45I think there's some reporting that he might be skipping the race, but a lot of others

01:48that competed through the Preakness, Belmont Stakes will be pointing towards that Traverse.

01:53It really is going to settle a lot of the questions that were left from the Triple Crown

01:57because he did have three different horses winning those three legs of the series.

02:01So hoping to see some of them match up later in the summer.

02:03But there are top-level stakes races every week right up until then and through Labor

02:08Day.

02:09So looking forward to each week of this meet.

02:11You get, like I said, top trainers and jockeys.

02:13I think two of the names that people will have their eye on at this meet are Irad Ortiz Jr.,

02:17who is one of the top jockeys in the country.

02:19He's been the leading rider for the past several years, typically has a big Saratoga.

02:24And Chad Brown, who is one of his partners, they team up on a lot of horses.

02:27He is the best trainer in the country, has won the last few Eclipse Awards.

02:31And Chad Brown tied for the training title last year.

02:34That was a bit of an upset that he didn't win it outright, but he definitely is a strong

02:38hand of horses to play through this summer season.

02:40We'll talk about the Diana in a second, but back to the Traverse, there is a lot of money

02:45at stake with this race around the world.

02:50Every satellite house, you name it, real horse bettors are all over the Traverse.

02:56What kind of money are we talking about here?

02:59Has it done in the past?

03:00It's huge.

03:02Oh, yeah.

03:03I mean, not far below those Triple Crown races.

03:05It's a real focus of the summer season.

03:07A lot of the three-year-olds that garner that attention early in the season, they all point

03:12there.

03:12I think this year we're anticipating the likes of Doorknock and Mindframe, who hit

03:17the wire together in the Belmont, as well as Seize the Gray, that upset winner of the

03:21Preakness.

03:22We've got some other horses from the Triple Crown, like Sierra Leone, who was the beaten

03:26favorite in the Derby.

03:27Chad Brown, who is Sierra Leone's trainer, has another horse that's just come along since

03:31the Triple Crown named Unmatched Wisdom, who some people are very excited about.

03:35So I think we're looking forward to how that race is going to shape up.

03:38Hopefully they all make it to that race in mid-August, because it should be a great race

03:42to rager on just wide open at this point, because we don't have a clear leader of that

03:46division right now.

03:47The best three-year-olds in horse racing will be at the Travers in August at Saratoga.

03:55Always fun to see that race.

03:56Let's talk about this weekend, the Diana.

04:00Now, you talk about Chad Brown.

04:01I mean, it's like he's got a monopoly on this race, and it really is crazy.

04:07He's won seven of the last eight Dianas, and he has five horses in the field.

04:14Is that even legal?

04:18I know.

04:18It seems like it shouldn't be.

04:19That's a conversation that happens in horse racing circles quite often, the monopoly that

04:23he has, especially in this particular division.

04:26These are turf horses, horses that prefer to run on the grass, female horses, and he

04:31really has an overabundance of quality in that division.

04:34You see it with him having half of this 10-horse field, but they're all individual betting

04:39interests, so it's still not easy to figure out who to wager on.

04:42I like the number five, Gina Romantica.

04:44She's going to be a bit of a price.

04:45She's 8-to-1 on the morning line.

04:47She's a horse that I think is cycling up to a better race.

04:49She's had some tough trips in her last couple of starts, and she might be the right value

04:53option in this Diana on Saturday.

04:56All right, the number five horse, Gina Romantica.

04:58Sounds like a chick I used to date.

05:008-to-1 odds right now.

05:02We'll see if Chad Brown can pull it off again.

05:05Weather might be an issue this weekend up at Saratoga.

05:09We'll see how it plays out from the Daily Racing Farm.

05:12My man, Dave, we'll see you again next week.

05:14Thank you, buddy.

05:14Enjoy the weekend.

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