Sun, Turf, and Chocolat
- The sun is out in Saratoga today and the G2 Lake George will be on the turf, as scheduled. My Princess Jess is the 8-5 morning line favorite making her second start for trainer Barclay Tagg and entering off a win in the G3 Boiling Springs at Monmouth last month, but second choice Mousse Au Chocolat, making her first North American start, is a far more compelling and classy contender, returning from a strong second place finish to Modern Look (who chased a quick pace and finished fourth behind undefeated Zakarva in the French Guineas) in the G2 Prix de Sandringham at Chantilly; in the start before that, she finished 2 3/4 lengths behind Zakarva, one of the early Arc favorites, in a G3 at Longchamp. Note as well that her last win came over a soft course, which is the listed condition of the Saratoga grass after two days of rain, and that French rider Christophe Lemaire comes along for the trip.
- Odds and ends: Demoiselle winner Mushka returns in the third, her first start since November ... Richard Migliore, who decided early in July to return to New York, was on the backstretch this morning in safety vest and helmet, looked reading to hop on a horse at moment's notice while chatting with a gaggle of reporters near the Morning Line. The rider isn't named on any mounts through Saturday, but he was in the right place to hustle for assignments ... Steve Asmussen is 6-4-0-1 through the first two days of the meet. The trainer has two entered today, in the second and the sixth ... Dagnabit and Notonthesamepage, scratched from the Sanford Stakes on Thursday, are both entered in the ungraded Tyro Stakes at Monmouth on Saturday ... Thanks for Self Appointed Fan Committee mention, Nick.
Posted by JC, Jul 25, 2008 12:37 PM
