Horse Racing : Saratoga Winner Might Not Be So Special

Enough future members of the Hall of Fame have won the Saratoga Special to fill a wing of the museum across the street from the race track here.

In recent years the stake for 2-year-olds has been won by the likes of Conquistador Cielo, Swale, Chief’s Crown and Gulch.

But when undefeated Summer Squall won the 87th running of the Special last week, few horsemen were ready to declare that the son of Storm Bird and the grandson of Secretariat is the best juvenile colt they have seen here this season.

Many think that the best 2-year-old on the grounds is Red Ransom, a colt who hadn’t run a race until he covered five furlongs in a track-record :57 1/5 two days before Summer Squall ran.

Summer Squall, winning his fourth in a row, ran six furlongs in 1:09 4/5, an ordinary time considering that Saratoga’s racing strip has been playing exceptionally fast.

“The Summer Squall race may have been weaker than what it looked like going in,” trainer P.G. Johnson said. “The favorite (Sir Richard Lewis, who had run five furlongs at Belmont Park in :57 4/5 in his only start) had trouble switching leads (moving from one lead foot to the other through the stretch) and looked to me like he could have (injured) his shins in the race.”

Jeff Lukas, who has been training Sir Richard Lewis, said that the Carr de Naskra colt came out of the race without problems.

Despite the scant respect for Summer Squall, there can be few quibbles about his record. Before arriving at Saratoga, he had three consecutive victories in Kentucky.

If he wins next year’s Kentucky Derby, the winner’s circle at Churchill Downs will need a mezzanine, because Summer Squall’s yearling purchase price of $300,000 was shared by 28 owners, a syndicate put together by Dogwood Stable’s Cot Campbell.

As for Red Ransom, he might not run in the Hopeful on Aug. 26 or in any other race here, because the son of Roberto and grandson of Damascus started coughing after his impressive debut. Trainer Mack Miller handles such young horses tenderly.

Of all the trainers in the Hall of Fame, Miller has one of the least impressive records in the Kentucky Derby. He has started only one horse, 21 years ago, and that resulted in a sixth-place finish. Ever since, Miller has hinted that that experience was the result of poor judgment and talks as though he would rather not return. Paul Mellon, who pays for the horses that Miller trains, doesn’t look at the Derby wistfully, either.

Small fields are the rule in stakes at Saratoga. Only four horses ran in the Jim Beam, and the next two Saturday stakes may draw similar numbers, thanks to the presence of Open Mind in the Alabama and Easy Goer in the Travers.

This Saturday, Open Mind, the 3-year-old filly who has won nine consecutive stakes, will probably be opposed by Rose Park, Dream Deal, winner of the Monmouth Oaks, and Nite of Fun, who finished ahead of Open Mind in the Coaching Club American Oaks before being disqualified for a foul in the stretch.

The only 3-year-old colts who will definitely race Easy Goer in the $1-million Travers on Aug. 19 are Clever Trevor and Le Voyageur.

After Easy Goer’s victory over older horses last Saturday in the Whitney Handicap, trainer Shug McGaughey said that his colt would run in the Travers even if there is an off track. McGaughey has been reluctant to run Easy Goer in the mud since his defeats on off tracks in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and this year’s Kentucky Derby.

Bill Shoemaker’s retirement road show will turn into a doubleheader Saturday. He will appear at two New Jersey tracks, Monmouth Park in the afternoon and Atlantic City at night.

The tracks are splitting Shoemaker’s $15,000 appearance fee, which will be one of the lowest paydays he’s had for appearances in metropolitan areas.

Several tracks--including Keeneland, the Meadowlands, Woodbine and the New York tracks--have said that they can’t justify paying Shoemaker’s asking fee, which has been as high as $75,000.

“Maybe he’ll help Monmouth, but Shoemaker’s price for us was much higher and we couldn’t see him helping us that much,” said Allen Gutterman at the Meadowlands, which is Monmouth’s sister track. “We did a promotion with the Shoemaker book (last year) and it did absolutely nothing for us.”

Mountaineer Park drew 4,600 fans last Sunday, fewer than track officials hoped for, as Shoemaker finished second aboard Halo Hansom in the West Virginia Derby. On the same card, Shoemaker rode a $3,500 claimer for his 8,804th victory.

Jockey Chris McCarron, the late trainer Jim Maloney, and Affectionately, Alydar and Black Gold will be inducted into the Hall of Fame today.

Jorge Velasquez, who rode Alydar, has been outvoted by Angel Cordero and McCarron in recent elections, but he may have a better chance next year after recently becoming the fifth jockey to reach the 6,000 mark in victories.

Horse Racing Notes

The day after Pat Day won the Whitney with Easy Goer, he began a five-day suspension, issued by the stewards at Arlington International. . . . At Saratoga, six winning horses have been disqualified for interference. . . . Michael Sandler, publisher of the Daily Racing Form, says reports that the newspaper’s price will increase from $2.50 to $3 are incorrect. “We are not contemplating an increase,” Sandler said.

Sunday’s Saratoga crowd of 50,380 will be listed as the second-largest in track history, but the figure is deceptive. There was a T-shirt giveaway that resulted in numerous fans paying their way in more than once and a more realistic count of actual attendance was 35,000. . . . Music Merci has earned $1.2 million, but his owners have seen less than $1 million. Payment of Music Merci’s $310,140 first-place purse in the Illinois Derby has not been made, pending an appeal by the owner of Notation, who finished first and but was disqualified for interference.

Racing in New York is less than big league when Marshall Cassidy, the track announcer at Saratoga, must remind fans after Easy Goer’s Whitney that they’ve seen a thrilling performance. . . . The name of 1988 Kentucky Derby winner Winning Colors, who underwent throat surgery in the spring, is appearing on the workout tab at Saratoga.

Is It True, winner of the 1 1/8-mile Jim Dandy, is over his head winning beyond a mile and hasn’t been nominated for the 1 1/4-mile Travers. Is It True, winner of five of 11 starts, is one of three horses that have beaten Easy Goer. The others are Sunday Silence, twice, and Lorenzoni, who is already a pretty tough answer to a trivia question. . . . Blushing John and Great Communicator have been assigned 124 pounds apiece for Saturday’s Arlington Handicap, at 1 1/4 miles on the grass.