Big Racing Weekend

Street Cry is the high weight for the 2002 Whitney Handicap.

Date: 08/01/02

This weekend there are two big-money Grade 1 races scheduled. First on Saturday will be the Whitney Handicap at Saratoga for the 3-year-olds and up at 1 1/8 miles with a purse of $750,000. On Sunday is the Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park for the 3-year-olds with a purse of $1,000,000, also at a distance of 1 1/8 miles. Both of these races have star-studded histories and have produced many horses that go on to win Breeders' Cup races and year end championships.

The Whitney Handicap is the premier race at Saratoga for the handicap division and may be the best race in that division so far this year. Entrants include Dubai World Cup winner Street Cry, Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner Macho Uno, defending Whitney champ Lido Palace, Belmont 7 furlong record holder Left Bank, and 2000 Travers winner Unshaded. Jockey Jerry Bailey had a tough decision to make and opted to ride Street Cry rather than Lido Palace. He said: "I'd love to ride him (Lido Palace), but I won the world's richest race on Street Cry, then he ran a huge race in the Stephen Foster. If he runs that race again, I don't know if anybody can beat him. It's kind of hard to take off a horse like that." Here is the field for Saturday's Grade 1 Whitney:

PP   HORSE           TRAINER            JOCKEY              WGT  ODDS
 1   Left Bank       Todd Pletcher      John Velazquez      118   9-2
 2   Saint Verre     H. Allen Jerkens   Jean-Luc Samyn      113  20-1
 3   Unshaded        Carl Nafzger       Jon Court           114  20-1
 4   Lido Palace     Robert Frankel     Jorge Chavez        119   5-2
 5   Macho Uno       Joe Orseno         Pat Day             118   5-1
 6   Street Cry      Saeed bin Suroor   Jerry Bailey        123   4-5

Free past performances for the Whitney from BRIS.

War Emblem winning the Preakness. He will be back again this weekend in the Haskell Invitational.
The Haskell Invitational is Monmouth Park's showcase for the 3-year-old colts. A field of nine was entered with Thoroughbred Corporation looking to War Emblem for a repeat of Point Given's victory last year. Medaglia d'Oro and Easyfromthegitgo's connections are playing the waiting game with cross entries in the Jim Dandy Stakes at Saratoga. Neither will commit yet as to which race they will run in. At this point, it looks like Frankel will probably keep Medaglia d'Oro at Saratoga unless it rains, and Asmussen will send Easyfromthegitgo wherever Medaglia d'Oro doesn't go. The Jim Dandy also affected Magic Weisner as his regular rider, Richard Migliore, had to honor a prior commitment in that race which left the mount to local jockey Mike Luzzi. Here is the field for Sunday's Grade 1 Haskell:

PP   HORSE             TRAINER          JOCKEY              WGT  ODDS
 1   Island Skipper    Fred Warren      Abdiel Toribio      114  30-1
 2   Peekskill         A. Reinstedler   Jose Santos         114  12-1
 3   Puck              Bill White       Cornelio Velasquez  117   8-1
 4   Magic Weisner     Nancy Alberts    Mike Luzzi          118   5-1
 5   Mr. Mellon        Elliott Walden   Pat Day             118  12-1
 6   War Emblem        Bob Baffert      Victor Espinoza     124   7-5
 7   Medaglia d'Oro    Bobby Frankel    Jerry Bailey        121   7-2
 8   Easyfromthegitgo  Steve Asumssen   Donnie Meche        116  12-1
 9   Like a Hero       Beau Greely      Laffit Pincay       115   6-1

The Haskell will be televised on ESPN2 from 5pm-6pm on Sunday and will include coverage of the Jim Dandy Stakes at Saratoga. Free past performances for the Haskell are available from Daily Racing Form and Equibase.

Check back for results plus my photos from the races late each evening.