steamy Friday

It's a humid, wet day at Saratoga, one day before the Travers. Shortly before noon, a hard rain shower came through Saratoga and soaked the grounds. The humidity came back last night, which means today will be an uncomfortable one at the track for the Grade I Personal Ensign.

Spoke with Hall of fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas this morning. He trained the last horse to win both the Derby and the Travers, Thunder Gulch in 1995. He likes Street Sense to win, and applauded trainer Carl Nafzger's training program. He also appreciates that Nafzger chose the Travers rather than holding out of the race like some other trainers for the sake of prepping for the Breeders' Cup Classic. That makes three of them - Lukas, Nick Zito and Nafzger - who pride themselves on being "traditionalists" and keeping the Travers right up there in reputation with the Derby. We'll see how those feelings play out in the coming years.

Wait A While takes Ballston Spa

Wait A While, ridden by garrett Gomez and trained by Todd Pletcher, won Thursday's feature, the Grade II Ballston Spa Handicap, over a firm inner turf course at Saratoga. Vacare was second and Meribel was third.

Travers draw

The Travers weel festivities are in full swing in Saratoga, and today's post position draw only adds to the hype! Seven horses were entered, and leading the way is Kentucky Derby winner, Street Sense. The winner of the Jim Dandy is the 3-5 morning-line favorite and will break from post No. 4 under jockey Calvin Borel. Second choice on the morning line is C P West at 5-1. The longest shots on the board are Helsinki and For You Reppo, both at 20-1. Here is the complete draw (with trainer, jockey and ML odds):

1. Helsinki (Nick Zito, Julien Leparoux, 20-1)
2. C P West (Nick Zito, Cornelio Velasquez, 5-1)
3. For You Reppo (Helen Pitts, Garrett Gomez, 20-1)
4. Street Sense (Carl Nafzger, Calvin Borel, 3-5)
5. Grasshopper (Neil Howard, Robby Albarado, 8-1)
6. Loose Leaf (Ken McPeek, Kent Desormeaux, 12-1
7. Sightseeing (Claude McGaughey III, Edgar Prado, 6-1)

rare treat

Saratoga just hosted a rare kind of race, a 2-mile dirt race. Yes, 2 long miles. Touchdown Peyton won the race while pacesetter Nite Light was second and Winemaster third.

As the winner crossed under the wire, track announcer Tom Durkin proclaimed him the victor in "a very entertaining 3:27.91."

Alabama Day

Alabama Day should be a gorgeous one at Saratoga. The sun is out, the temperature is down and the breeze is blowing. Rags to Riches, rather than being prepped for her return to racing, is relaxing in her stall while two stablemates, Octave and Panty Raid, will run in her stead for trainer Todd Pletcher. While the headliner is out, the field for the Alabama is incredibly strong, as the seven horses have accounted for 28 victories.

First race goes off in seven minutes.

Zito to enter two in Travers

After watching both C.P. West and Helsinki work this morning over Saratoga's main track, trainer Nick Zito announced both will be entered in next Saturday's $1 million Travers Stakes.

That announcement grows the list of definites to five: Jim Dandy winner Street Sense, C.P. West, Helsinki, Sightseeing and Tiz Wonderful. Loose Leaf and For You Reppo are being considered as well.

Zito won the 2004 Travers with Birdstone, as the colt barely beat a torrential rainstorm to win Zito's first Travers (the rain came so badly right after the race that the day's last race was cancelled). He said he learned a long time ago from fellow Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas about taking chances when you have a horse capable of doing so. Assuming both colts avoid any serious problems in the next week or so, he'll do just that with two horses.

Street Sense will likely be a huge favorite in the race. He worked Wednesday and trainer Carl Nafzger reported nothing but good things about his colt. The countdown has officially begun...

Travers nominations announced

24 horses were nominated for the Aug. 25 Travers Stakes, led by sevne for trainr Todd Pletcher. Interestingly, he doesn't plan to saddle any of the seven (including three fillies) for the race. Nick Zito entered four horses.

Yes, Street Sense was nominated and is expected to run.