As you can see, everyone's taking it easy back in Hempstead today, recovering from the first five weeks of Saratoga '08 and gearing up for what should be a dramatic final six days of racing. Saturday's scheduled appearance by Curlin in the Woodward will be the emotional if not parimutuel highlight of closing week, and the first 20,000 customers Saturday will get a copy of this commemorative Peb (Pierre Bellocq) poster:
The Woodward is one of four of Saratoga's 14 Grade 1's still to be run. Here's a recap of the Grade 1's in the books at Saratoga and Del Mar this year, including the winners' Beyer Speed Figures:
As for Wednesday's card, which starts with a steeplechase and includes six maiden races, here's the lineup for the pick-6, which is 5/6ths on turf and starts with a $55k carryover from Monday:
Race 5: 2yo MdSpWt, 5.5f -- Field of 7 (6 firsters)
Race 6: 3+ Clm 60k, 8.5f-IT -- Field of 10
Race 7: 2FNY, 8.5f-MT -- Field of 9 (5 firsters) + 5 A-E's
Race 8: 3+FNY Mollie Wilmott S., 1m-IT -- Field of 10
Race 9: 3+ MdSpWt, 5.5f-MT -- Field of 10 (3 firsters) + 1 A-E
Race 10: 3+NY Alw N1x, 8.5f-IT -- Field of 11
Let's one of us hit this thing tomorrow, okay? As commenter "str3268" pointed out, if we do get our first double-carry of Saratoga '08, Thursday's card includes the only steeplechase of the meeting that's part of the pick-6: the New York Turf Writers' Cup, which has eight betting interests. If we get that far, any thoughts on playing it without hitting the "all" button would be appreciated.
