Horse Racing News on July 22, 2011

There is but one star in the Stars and Stripes Stakes on Saturday at Arlington, and Winchester will be bet accordingly.

At last year's Saratoga meet, trainer Todd Pletcher won 18 races for 2-year-olds, including two of the three graded stakes run for juvenile fillies.

Grade 1 races have not been kind to Caracoratado this year.

Perhaps the best illustration of how competitive Saturday's CCA Oaks came up is this: linemaker Eric Donovan made Joyful Victory, the 2-1 favorite in the Kentucky Oaks, the 6-1 longest shot in the five-horse field.

Beads of sweat replaced pellets of rain on people's foreheads, and bottled water may have been more advisable than a can of beer as the refreshment of choice to beat the heat, but in the end opening day of Saratoga's 143rd season was pretty cool.