Saratoga Stack 8.5.23

It's Whitney Day! Podcast!

Love this picture.

Whitney Day 2017 in Saratoga. Was lucky enough to secure some paddock passes to go see the house horse for the Mutnansky Family at that time, Gun Runner.

He was a house favorite for a few reasons. First, he was the family bet when he ran in the Travers the summer before - the Travers famously dominated by new Hall of Famer, Arrogate. From there, it was the first horse’s name my oldest son would repeat over and over around the house. Probably because it had the word gun in it. So I had to promise to get a picture of him that weekend in Saratoga.

So going to the paddock that day for the Whitney, I got down on a knee to take a low-angle shot of the eventual Whitney winner. And with one of the grooms pointing right at me, I think the pic came out pretty good.

I found it recently - backed up by Amazon Photos off a long-gone old phone.

Looking at it now I probably got a little close to the horse. Thanks to Team Gun Runner and Team Asmussen for not having me kicked out of the paddock.

If you were in the backyard that day near East Ave, I was the joker standing on a picnic table yelling “HES THE BEST HORSE IN TRAINING” as he dominated in the stretch.

Been to a bunch of Whitney Days at Saratoga, but that was the best one. Commentator holding off Saint Liam in 2005 is a close second. Commentator winning it again in 2008 rounds out the trifecta.

Was supposed to be there today but other plans have come up. The weather looks terrific and Cody’s Wish looms as a massive favorite as he tries to stretch out successfully to a mile and an eighth. Should be a great day.

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Whitney Weekend! A great weekend to sign up with NYRA Bets.

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Whitney Weekend! What are you waiting for?!?

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RE: the weather cancellation Friday. What are they supposed to do? The track was an absolute bog. The turf took on massive rain. Huge weekend ahead. It sucks if you're on track and hopefully those fans are compensated in some way, but it’s hard for me to get upset about it. An hour or two spent handicapping is out the window, but it’s hard to really fight the call by NYRA. Safety first.

I have a couple of ideas for the Whitney card. Let’s talk them out. Only 20 minutes - and even shorter when you listen at 1.5x speed

Race 7
45/123

Race 8
16/58

Race 9
256/3

Race 10
6/12 (light, light backups)

Race 11
7/5102

Race 12
1210

As for our Two Minute Pick today, I was torn between two. I’ll go with the shorter price that is more likely to win. A thought on the Test Stakes, Race 8.

Good luck if you’re playing. Comments are open below.

Gun Runner’s Whitney win to get us home!