Early Venue Thoughts August 15th

[JolyB]

Congrats on your back to back wins RQ. Either of those two venues sound great - it's nice to have such good alternatives from which to choose.

Any card that includes the Alabama has to be a good one - it is a top of the line race at the Spa year in and year out ever since 1872. This year's edition is no exception since it may serve as a prep for the Kentucky Oaks [although it is sort of unusual to run 1 1/4 miles to prep for a 1 1/8 mile race]. I understand that Swiss Skydiver is planning that route. The co-featured Saratoga Derby should also be interesting; I think that Decorated Invader will be back after his Hall of Fame Stakes victory on opening week.

The Woodbine group of stakes races could provide an equally viable alternative, although two of them are restricted to Canadian breds and with border closures I'm not sure whether any horses not based in Canada will be able to participate.