Opening Day

[FrankD.]

A sign of Spring and hope ?

The Oklahoma training track opens for business today in Saratoga which means that opening day at The Spa is a mere 94 days away.

After a brutal winter and a still very cold spring in the north east and an even more brutal past 4 months of non bet-able racing at Aqueduct do we have any hope ?

In the next few weeks the Pletcher\'s, Asmussen\'s, Zito\'s & Mott\'s will be shipping their prize 2 year old\'s in to get ready for the races. Yes there will be more than a few NY bred slow rats on the grounds for the 5f turf sprints too !

As the Florida and Kentucky horse populations trickle to the north & east and as we move to Belmont later this month I can only hope for larger fields, competitive races and some relevance to NY racing again ? It can happen. The Knicks are relevant for the first time in 10 years so there is hope !

The real hope for me is that one of these promising 2 year old\'s will develop, stay healthy and be able to run 1 1/4 miles by this time next year so we have something tangible to discuss for the first Saturday in May of 2012 ?

Let\'s hope it happens, after all how much can a horse player take ?

[Silver Charm]

Frank, plenty be cheerful about so cheer up a little! Yes its good that there is only 92 days more until the start of the Spa Meet.

But there will be 3-5 times as many good betting opportunities and cards spread throughout between now and then as there is in total for the entire Spa Meet!

But certainly there is nothing like being at the Track, around the horses and the people. As someone who has become conditioned to playing from the convenience of home I have learned that over the last year.

Good Live Racing is Good!!

[Michael D.]

I just reserved July 22 on the vacation calendar. Looks like a 2 yr old stakes on Fri and Sun, and the CCA Oaks on Sat.

I\'ve learned never to get my hopes up when it comes to NYRA, but with a lot of the big names nursing injuries this year, or just behind schedule because of these crazy two prep regimens, the Spa will be as important as ever when it comes to crowning the 3 yr old champ. Sar should also benefit from Mth losing that extra $20 mio.