Saratoga Analysis: Thursday, July 15, 2021

I think I missed the gleaming white fences most, the ones shrouded under ancient trees in a wide expanse of land that a suburbanite from Long Island could hardly fathom. I like walking around and watching people go about their business. The horses are all beautiful up here, as if touched by magic waters, but the crowd is always humorously mixed. The usual track people are here today, slightly less rowdy out of respect, but there are others too. Smartly dressed men in suits sit alongside budding families alongside ambitious college kids looking for a spot to put their beer pong table, though I feel that they may have trouble on Opening Day. Sam the Bugler just wished me luck and cryptically told me he was “working with tools of ignorance.” I love it all. It might not be a place to make money, but it’s a place to make a living, if that makes sense. read more

Saratoga Analysis: Thursday, August 20, 2020

For this Thursday card at Saratoga, I’m once again going with what I’m calling “streamlined analysis,” because “skimpy analysis” is a little effeminate. Tomorrow, I’ll be back in my home base in New York, and full analysis will return. However, I do believe that this is a viable alternative for solid analysis in a rush. I’ll leave it to readers to decide.

Saratoga Analysis: Saturday, August 15, 2020

Man, it’s been a weird couple of days at Saratoga, but we persevere and turn the page to an excellent Saturday card. Bruce Brown and Chad Brown have won the same amount of races this week, which is really indicative of the silliness I’ve had to put up with. How does someone account for the fact that every trainer seems to have a live horse? Such is the challenge at Saratoga, but I’ve never had more fun in my life, even in crushing defeat.

Saratoga Analysis: Friday, August 14, 2020

Because I’m writing Paddy’s Picks remotely on this beautiful Friday morning, the analysis is a little lighter than I would normally like it to be. However, while the race intros and conclusions have been omitted to save time and space, the horse-by-house outlooks are being left untouched, as I think they provide more than enough information in a bind. Let’s take a look at the card.