Venue for July 16

[JolyB]

Plen, I share your exasperation over too much Chad, especially in stakes races for older horses on the turf. It seems as if his two primary clients, Seth Klarman and Peter Brandt, have an almost unlimited number of stakes caliber horses and other trainers appear reluctant to run against them. As a handicapper, I have great difficulty trying to determine which of the many Brown entrants are well intended and ready to run and whether any are there just to fill out the field. Perhaps all of them are ready for a top effort - I just can't always tell.

But, today I don't want to be angry at anyone - it's opening day and the weather looks good. I got up extra early this morning and found the Saratoga Special available online, with its usual excellent journalism. The feature race today has a Wayne Lukas runner named Summer Promise, which just about sums up the feeling of the beginning of the Saratoga season. I can't wait until a couple of minutes after 1:00 when John Imbriale leads the crowd in the traditional cry of "and they're off at Saratoga."

Hope you have a wonderful day.