Opening-day notes / Trying to stay dry

Saratoga Springs, New York

Rain, thunderstorms and more of both dominate the near-term weather forecast. Summer at the Spa was underway on Wednesday for the 140th time with umbrellas drawn, the confusion – inoperable self-service betting machines, balky air conditioning, late-arriving machinery used in the public replay center -- and handicappers scrambling to reconfigure races moved from turf to a sealed and tightly compacted, sloppy main track, which resulted in the declaration of 41 horses with five grass races moved to a tightly rolled, sealed and sloppy main track – one less than were moved during the 2007 meeting. By the end of Thursday, with three turf races and a postponed steeplechase on the card, last year’s total will be quickly surpassed.

Thursday’s steeplechase has been moved to next Wednesday and Thursday’s first post will be 1:35 p.m. with the off-the-turf annoucement made late Wednesday afternoon. NYRA president Charlie Hayward said that there is a distinct possibility that four turf races scheduled for Friday will also be run on the main track. “Depends on how much rain we get tonight,” he said. The day's hardest downpour followed the last race, widening the pool of water standing at the rail.

Even in this weather it is difficult to not notice the new, absolutely out of place, facility directly behind the clubhouse that houses on-track concessions operated by local restaurants. While no effort has been made to maintain continuity in terms of appearance vis a vis the setting in which this eyesore was slapped together at NYRA’s expense, the facility has created much resentment among other food and beverage vendors who have for many years been fixtures here and paid large fees to NYRA. The restaurants represented in the new industrial-flavored structure pay no fee or commission to NYRA, having been invited to participate from a field of more than 20 by the resident prince of marketing and signage – the person who dreamed up “NYRA Nation,” which is likely still in wait for its first citizen. Difficult to believe, however, that some of this cash is not finding its way into someone’s safe deposit box.

Never an agency to hurry , the New York State Racing and Wagering Board waited until Tuesday to approve rolling doubles – just in case three a day were insufficient -- and superfectas on every race that qualifies, which pretty much makes sense because the bet has a following particularly among those who have embraces fractional wagering and play in 10-cent units. Additional superfectas will be added for Thursday's card.

Kent Desormeaux, who has been mired in a long slump while stuck for weeks on 4,998 wins, finally rode his 4,999th winner in Wednesday’s sixth race, an off-the-turf sprint contested by half the field originally entered.

Bucking recent trends, which should double-digit declines in betting handle since the end of the Triple Crown, the 58-day meeting at Belmont, concluded on Saturday, showed a 1.5 percent increase in on-site handle and a 2.2 percent decline in total handle.

Only at Saratoga: A horse trained by Gary Contessa dumped the rider on the main track during training hours on Wednesday morning, left the course without being detected, found the horse path, crossed Union Avenue without incident and was found back at the trainer’s barn. --PM