Trainer James Bond has long known the benefits of stabling in Saratoga almost year-round. “This is my seventeenth year,” said Bond at his state-of-the art private barn a quarter-mile up the road from the main track. “I watched Leo O’Brien who had some great meets here. He was always the first one into the barn area.

“Oklahoma is deep and forgiving. You’ve heard the expression ‘speed kills.’ It’s only a matter of time before hard tracks do damage to the soft tissues and deep muscles.”

But it’s the setting that Bond appreciates most. “Keeneland is a lot like this. Every spring you can see horses change dramatically before your eyes in a matter of five to seven days. This is the time of year when the same thing can happen in Saratoga.”

Despite having large divisions in New York and Kentucky, Hall of Famer Bill Mott spends much of his morning training hours in Saratoga when Oklahoma opens each May. It is no wonder the youngest trainer inducted into the Hall of Fame has won eight Saratoga titles, two more than runner-up Lukas, four more than Hall of Fame legends Allen Jerkens and Laz Barrera.

Given Saratoga’s still burgeoning popularity, competition has increased, mostly via shippers from the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Expected to challenge Pletcher and all the rest are Neil Howard, John Ward, Dale Romans, Dallas Stewart, Tony Reinstedler, Al Stall Jr. and Chuck Simon. Lukas’s Kentucky division will join his New York-based string and Wally Dollase, a Kentuckian via Southern California, may have a small division here for the first time, said assistant racing secretary P.J. Campo Jr.

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South Florida, as usual, will be represented by Eddie Plesa Jr., the Midatlantic states by Graham Motion, Vinnie Blengs and Michael Matz. Finger Lakes trainers, headed by the prolific Charlton Baker, will ship south and east from Canandaigua for much of the New York-bred fare. The up-and-over set will be headed by such steeplechase giant and Hall of Famer Jonathan Sheppard, as well as Tommy Voss, Sanna Hendricks, among others. Indeed, something for every manner of fan and level of player.

So keep this in mind in the days and weeks during the run-up to Saratoga and secure the rubber band tightly around the bankroll. With all-sources handle approaching $14-million daily, the betting pools are huge and field size is larger than at any time during the New York season. Like the man said, everybody wants to win in Saratoga.

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