Columnist Ralph Siraco: Tips for wagering Saratoga’s ‘Spa’ racing season

Ralph Siraco

Monday, July 25, 2005 | 9:29 a.m.

Ralph Siraco's horse racing column appears Monday and his Southern California selections run Tuesday-Sunday.

Last week in this corner we outlined some of the idiosyncrasies of the boutique Del Mar racing season. The seven-week seaside meeting is now wrapping up week No. 1. Racing at the beach in Southern California is as pleasant to the eyes as it can be to the bankroll.

While multitudes of Las Vegas-based horseplayers make seasonal treks to the San Diego-area track for a little live racing action and a lot of summer breezes off the left coast, the upcoming meet at Saratoga in upstate New York offers much the same weather as our desert monsoons.

The 137th "Spa" racing season begins Wednesday at historic Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., and, as the old saying goes, "If you don't like the weather right now, just stick around for 10 minutes, it'll change."

Summer showers are as common as a visit to the ATM at Saratoga. The drastic weather patterns there play havoc with handicappers, especially for races in the rollover bets of pick-six, pick-four and even the pick-threes, when one or more of those contests are scheduled on the turf course.

In an effort to ease the mass of late scratches when a race is switched from grass to the main, The New York Racing Association has instituted alternate runners for "main track only." Keep that in mind when handicapping the Spa racing that runs through Sept. 5, with a six-day racing week (dark on Tuesdays).

As it did for Del Mar, the Daily Racing Form published a "Saratoga Players' Guide," providing players invaluable information about the unique race meeting. Here are some nuggets from the pages of the Players' Guide at Saratoga.

Richard Dutrow, Jr., who was New York's leading trainer in 2001-02, continues to sit out a 60-day suspension and will return to his stable on July 31. His capable assistant, Juan Rodriquez, has been the "program trainer" of record in his absence.

When trainer Mark Hennig sends out the favorite -- bet. In the past three years, Hennig runners with odds of 5-2 or lower have produced 11 winners from 22 starts, batting .500. Bobby Frankel has a 39 percent winning average over the last three Spa seasons and Steve Asmussen -- who set a single-year record of 555 victories in 2005 -- had a 7-for-37 record last year there.

For Las Vegas horseplayers, starting Wednesday, it's wall-to-wall spa racing. With a first post time of 10 a.m. at Saratoga and Del Mar kicking in at 2 p.m., just as Saratoga is wrapping up, at this time of year it's fast, firm, dry and cool in the race books all over town.