Nine horses that combined to compete in 15 Triple Crown races, ran during week one at the Spa: Ten Cents a Shine (03 KD, P), Spanish Chestnut (05 KD), Bernardini (06 P), Hemingway’s Key (06 P, Bel), Oh So Awesome (06 Bel), Sunriver (06 KD, Bel), Going Wild (05 KD, P), Wilko (05 KD, P), Andromeda’s Hero (05 KD, Bel). Four ran in the Jim Dandy, four in allowance races, and one in a claiming race.

30% of races at Saratoga have been restricted to NY-breds (17 of 57 races). Of 12 Pick Fours, only two of them have been free of state-bred races (Thursday and Sunday early Pick Four).

Steve Crist gave out Sunday’s late Pick Four on the DRF Saratoga handicapping seminar. Based on his comments on the final four races, a ticket using only his prime contenders would have been 1 x 4 x 2 x 1 for $8. The Pick Four paid almost $1,800. He also gave out Hesanoldsalt ($28.80) on Saturday.

Thorograph founder Jerry Brown won the Del Mar handicapping contest, earning a spot in the DRF/NTRA Handicapping Championship. It is nice to see one of the “experts” make the big dance. Some DRF handicappers seem more interested in making the World Series of Poker than proving their handicapping metal (Davidowitz).

It will be interesting to see what kind of figure Bernardini earns in the Jim Dandy. His time of 1:50.2 was slightly slower than Hesanoldsalt, but the track condition had changed dramatically. Bernardini will be 3-5 in the Travers, but, despite his visually dominate performance, he is a play against. In the Jim Dandy he was loose on the lead, running a moderate pace on a speed favoring track. Who did he beat? Sunriver, the only other stakes winner in the field, didn’t handle the footing (fading to last) and isn’t that fast anyway. All others in the field are still eligible for N2X allowance races.