| New York Racing: The Insider July 24 | ||||
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| Tuesday, 24 July 2007 | |
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Saratoga's opening week will present a strong series of stakes headed by the 80th running of the $750,000 Grade 1 Whitney Handicap for 3-year-olds and up at nine furlongs on July 28th, the first Saturday of the meet. The Whitney will be the top race on an 11-race live race card that features three other stakes races at Saratoga that are part of the new Breeders’ Cup Challenge series: the $250,000 Grade 1 Go for Wand Handicap for fillies and mares at nine furlongs, the $500,000 Grade 1 Diana for fillies and mares at nine furlongs on the turf, and the $250,000 Grade 2 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap for 3-year-olds and up at six furlongs. It’s a “Win and You’re In” format, as the winners of these races will automatically qualify, respectively, for the Breeders’ Cup Classic, Breeders’ Cup Distaff, Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf, and Breeders’ Cup Sprint that will be held at Monmouth Park on Saturday, October 27th. Wednesday: First post at 1 p.m. The feature will be the 89th running of the $100,000-added Grade 3 Schuylerville for 2-year-old fillies at six furlongs. ACCORDING TO PLAN, DICEY D J, LADY CHACE, NEW YORK CITY GIRL and SUBTLE ALY are among the nine entered to start. Thursday: The top race will be the the 93rd running of the $150,000 Grade 2 Sanford for 2-year-olds at six furlongs. Friday: This is a Sunset Racing day, first post 2:45 p.m. On tap is the 12th running of the $100,000-added Grade 3 Lake George for three-year-old fillies at a mile and a sixteenth on the turf. A second Sunset Racing day will be held on Friday, August 31st. Saratoga Racecourse's main track is a one-and-one-eighth mile dirt oval with a 7-furlong chute. One-mile races (if any are carded) start up against the outer rail on the clubhouse turn. The Mellon turf course measures one mile and 98 feet. The inner turf course (where all the steeplechase action takes place) comes in at seven furlongs and 304 feet. The distance from the second turn to the wire is 1,144 feet. The Saratoga meet that begins Wednesday will run daily, except Tuesdays, through Labor Day, September 3rd. Post time is 1 p.m., except for Travers Day (Saturday, August 25th) when post time is 12:45 p.m., and on Sunset Racing Days (Friday, July 27th and Friday, August 31st) when post time is 2:45 p.m. |
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