From Mary Lou to Tom; Jim Dandy to Fourstardave; Siro’s to backyard tailgating; and morning workouts to give aways; Saratoga has a cast of heroes, customs, and institutions which make it, in our opinion, the most unique sporting venue on Earth. Over the next 40 Days, we will profile 40 of these legends and traditions, adding our own memories and experiences from 30 plus years of summering at the Spa. It’s our Salute to Saratoga. We hope you enjoy following along.
Today is Jim Dandy day at Saratoga. There also happens to be a $309,000 carryover in the Pick 6. Also, I am at a wedding on the West Coast, so Saratoga starts at 10:00 am. Is this the best day ever? Probably. Regardless, in today’s 40 Days, we celebrate all things Jim Dandy – the race, the horse and the bar.
Jim Dandy the Race
This is one of my favorite Saturdays at Saratoga. The race almost always draws several of the marquee three year olds prepping for the Travers, and since its still early in the meet, there isn’t all of the hoopla that comes with the Travers. And in recent years, with NYRA’s push towards big days, the Jim Dandy card has gotten nice additions: this year the undercard features the Amsterdam (GIII), the Bowling Green (GII), and the AG Vanderbilt (GI). Its just an absolutely fantastic day of racing.
And the Jim Dandy is a really cool race, regardless of whats on the undercard. Incepted in 1964 and achieving graded status in 1973, Its been won by some of the biggest names in the history of the sport: Arts and Letters, Affirmed, Conquiestador Cielo, Thunder Rumble, Awesome Again, Bernardini, Street Sense and Palace Malice.
And most importantly, it has been an absolutely crucial angle for handicapping the Travers in recent years. Since 2005, Flower Alley, Bernardini, Street Sense, Stay Thirsty and Alpha have won the Jim Dandy and then gone on to win the Travers. Wicked Strong also won the Jim Dandy last year, and as we all remember so well, lost the Travers to his stablemate VE Day by a diminishing nose on the wire (VE Day had prepped in the Curlin Stakes, again highlighting how important it is to have a local spin at Saratoga if you want to win the Travers).
If American Pharoah wins the Haskell and (fingers crossed) runs back in the Travers, he will be a heavy, heavy favorite, and deservingly so. But I will be taking a good, hard look at whomever prevails in the Jim Dandy today.
Jim Dandy the Horse
Jim Dandy the horse embodies everything we love about sports. Dismissed at 100-1 odds in the 1930 Travers, against Triple Crown winner Gallant Fox and the Fox’s strongest rival, Whichone, owned by the blue-blood Whitneys, Jim Dandy prevailed.
The 1930 Travers was run on a muddy track, after hard rains that morning and intermittent showers throughout the day. Jim Dandy had run in 141 (!) career races prior to the 1930 Travers and had run last in more than half of them. BUT, he had won the Grand Union Hotel Stakes at Saratoga the prior year in similar conditions. Though the bookmakers still gave him no shot, he skipped over the muddy going. At the top of the stretch, Whichone bore out and brought Gallant Fox with him (a post race examination would show that Whichone bowed a tendon in the race), but more importantly, it gave Jim Dandy and his jockey Frank Baker space to charge through on the rail. Baker and Jim Dandy never looked back, crushing that year’s Triple Crown hero by 8 lengths. It was a race that remains one of horse racing’s greatest upsets, and is one of the primary reasons that Saratoga is known as the “Graveyard of Champions.” And a note to American Pharoah — winning the Triple Crown and the Travers may be the most difficult feat in horse racing; Gallant Fox and Affirmed failed to turn the trick, and even the great Secretariat was turned back by Onion. If the Pharoah were able to pull that off, he would join only Whirlaway as a Triple Crown and Travers champion.
Jim Dandy the Bar
And finally, there is Jim Dandy the bar:
If you are looking for a place to wet your whistle in the clubhouse at Saratoga on Jim Dandy Day, it would only be appropos to visit the Jim Dandy Bar. The bar was renovated prior to the 2011 season, to many negative reviews. The large bar was ripped out, and all of the old-timey bar-like ambiance was removed. But nevertheless, it remains a bar, and they still serve drinks. I, for one, would still enjoy raising a glass to Jim Dandy, before the Jim Dandy Stakes, in the Jim Dandy Bar.
Best of luck in the Pick 6.
