It feels irresponsible to consider the Jim Dandy Stakes anything other than a premier horse race worthy of fans’ attention. The argument can be made that short fields are ruining horse racing and that the Race of the Day today is an uninteresting one, but I consider those arguments blasphemous.
Regarding complaints of a small field, I disagree with the notion that there aren’t enough horses to go around. That’s true at some tracks, but it’s an absurd thing to say about Saratoga. Yesterday’s Curlin Stakes featured a full field of nine three-year-olds at the same distance, including two Triple Crown runners and many more contenders. The problem isn’t a lack of competition; no one wants to run into a buzzsaw until they have to.
This year’s Jim Dandy features three of the best three-year-olds in the division, and instead of racing for fourth, many owners simply decided to try the restricted stakes yesterday or even the Haskell last weekend, another full field. Relax, racing fans. It’s not all so bad.
The Jim Dandy remains a historic race at Saratoga, the natural prep for the Travers Stakes and tone-setter for the three-year-old summer season. It would’ve been the Race of the Day regardless of the field size. Three of the top athletes in the sport will try to stake their claim as an early Travers favorite, and that alone makes the race worth looking at.
Saratoga, Race 9
Jim Dandy Stakes (G2) for Three-Year-Olds, 1 ⅛ Miles on the Dirt
Post Time: 5:37 p.m. EST
1- Western River (SCR)
Double-entered in the Curlin, yesterday’s Race of the Day, this colt has been scratched and will not run today. If I can rant for a moment, when I picked him to win that race yesterday, I didn’t anticipate that jockey Ricardo Santana would give the rest of the field a 25-length head start on the backstretch. If that was in the Form, I probably would’ve recognized it as a distinct disadvantage.
2- Epicenter
He was arguably my favorite horse on the Triple Crown trail this year, which made a pair of close defeats all the more frustrating. After losing the Kentucky Derby in heartbreaking, illogical fashion, he appeared to be an obvious winner of the Preakness. He didn’t get the trip he wanted, however, and fellow runner Early Voting improved that day to beat him by a diminishing margin.
It’s difficult to gauge his ability now in relation to his form in May, because three-year-olds can develop quickly. In the spring, he did seem to hit a plateau following his win in the Louisiana Derby in March, but there’s no telling whether he’s capable of more now. In any case, I want to see him return to his old running style closer to the pace, as his closing performance in the Preakness proved underwhelming. He’s notoriously a gamer with upside.
3- Tawny Port
He’s a hard-trying colt and a seventh-place finish in the Kentucky Derby isn’t something to dismiss. Unlike the three favorites in this race, he actually has a post-Triple-Crown prep going into the Jim Dandy, having defeated White Abarrio and Classic Causeway in the G3 Ohio Derby in June. He’s a long shot for a reason; his speed figures are nowhere near competitive and he’s lost to a pair of these runners before. He’s a fun horse to root for though.
4- Early Voting
It’s easy now to say that this colt was bound to improve in the Preakness, but before we knew that Mo Donegal was a Belmont Stakes winner, it was difficult to tell whether the Wood Memorial was a useful prep. It’s clear now, and this runner is obviously a contender in this race. He has defeated fellow runner Epicenter, but the real advantage he’ll have is the early lead in a small field. Epicenter is the only member of the group that could feasibly keep up, and it’s unlikely that he’ll try. If he’s finds the best trip in the field, then the result should be fairly straightforward.
5- Zandon
Other runners have overshadowed this colt in his division, but he’s certainly capable of earning a better reputation than “the vanquished foe,” a role he assumed in the Kentucky Derby. Though he fought valiantly, he was simply unable to pass Epicenter in the stretch at Churchill Downs, and went on to serve as more of a distraction as upset winner Rich Strike shot up the rail. He’s a prime candidate for improvement based on his relative lack of experience. My only concern is that the likely pace scenario in a four-horse field won’t benefit his late-running style.
Order: 2 4 5 3
If Epicenter reached his ceiling in the spring, then I’m simply wrong, but based on his performances in the Triple Crown, I believe he’s due for a winning performance. I’m hoping he can get closer to the pace than he did in the Preakness, and if he can, then he may prove to be a menace in the stretch. Early Voting feels like the elephant in the room in every race he’s in, as he’s always very sensible but never strikes me as unbeatable. He’ll get the early lead if he wants it and his win in the Preakness makes him an obvious candidate for another victory here, but I’m willing to go against him in an evenly matched field.
Zandon is a talented runner with plenty of upside, and under the right circumstances, he can close well and win. He’s certainly good enough, but “the right circumstances” may be hard to come by. Tawny Port is a hearty colt that always seems to deliver, but this is a tough spot.
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