Summer 2026: Week 1

 4th of July Weekend

Saturday July 4 was the kind of day that keeps me coming back for racing as I scored with six-of-eleven and had a tidy profit.  Saratoga opened this weekend, which was even far earlier than the recent early openings.  Used to be that Saratoga was a "boutique meet" that ran four weeks in August.  Then it was extended to the last week in July....then to Labor Day...then to the third week in July.  This year, Opening Day was on July 3.  Will be interesting when the newly refurbished Belmont Park opens next year if this continues or if we go back to Belmont running through mid-July.  I had selections from both Gulfstream (unusual for this time of year) and of course Monmouth.  The races from Monmouth were cancelled on Friday because of the oppressive heat and then again on Saturday, and so I was left with only the two tracks.  The biggest take away from the day Saturday was a reminder that the track pays on ALL winning tickets.  There were five big stakes race selections on my sheet Saturday and I won only one of them, but had five other winners :)

Mashallah

Cross Haste

Eponine

Shelzawa

One Sweet Girl

Gran Oriente

Two notable social interactions over the last two weeks.....first, our good friend Michelle had her birthday and we exchanged messages.  As a side note, in my continuing book writing project I used Michelle as the basis for a fictional character that Mark & Kimmy work with at the Viking TV offices.  Fictional fun :)  And when I reached out to my very favorite former student and gal-pal Kimmy about her reunion cruise with former Royal Caribbean pals and Kim's health issues, she and I exchanged messages.  She's so sweet to care about both of us.