Debuting at Saratoga - Loving the 2-Year-Olds
It's the night before the bell rings and the gates fly open for the first race at Saratoga 2011. I am not going to lie … I'm pretty excited. Quality horses abound at the place with seemingly more racing history than anyplace else. Name a division, and Saratoga has many of the leaders in spades. Blind Luck and Havre De Grace, a loaded Whitney, top sprinters and turf horses, a Travers and an Alabama that could well be the deciding factor in end-of-the-year awards. NBC saw the power of the Spa. They will be there every week. I tell you what else Saratoga has … all those wonderful two-year-olds.
There's no place where I feel better about the chances of seeing a future champion debut than a juvenile race at Saratoga. Just last year we saw one of the most spectacular young horses unveiled in recent years, when Uncle Mo won his first start by a country mile. It's not a question of if we will see an excellent horse make their debut at the Upstate New York racing haven, it's only a matter of how many. Whether they are well bred, high-priced, or just very well thought of, when a horse debuts at the Spa, they have zero limitations as far as the heights their career may reach, as evidenced by the little list I compiled.
I did Del Mar on Tuesday, now it is time for Saratoga. Let's take a look at my favorite horses that made their career debuts at historic Saratoga:
| Year | Horse | Claim to Fame |
| 1908 | Makette | Hall of Fame |
| 1914 | Regret | Hall of Fame |
| 1941 | Vagrancy | Double Champion 1942 |
| 1951 | Tom Fool | Hall of Fame |
| 1965 | Moccasin | Horse of the Year 1965 |
| 1967 | Stage Door Johnny | Champion 3yo 1968 |
| 1968 | Arts and Letters | Hall of Fame |
| 1968 | Ta Wee (f) | Hall of Fame |
| 1977 | Bowl Game | Turf Champion 1979 |
| 1979 | Plugged Nickle | Sprint Champion 1980 |
| 1983 | Devil's Bag | Champion 2yo 1983 |
| 1985 | Manila | Turf Champion 1986 |
| 1987 | Winning Colors (f) | Champion 3yo filly 1988 |
| 1987 | Sunshine Forever | Turf Champion 1988 |
| 1989 | Rhythm | Champion 2yo 1989 |
| 1994 | Flanders (f) | Champion 2yo filly 1994 |
| 1997 | Beautiful Pleasure (f) | Champion Older Female 1999 |
| 1999 | Surfside (f) | Champion 3yo filly 2000 |
| 2000 | Macho Uno | Champion 2yo 2000 |
| 2000 | Speightstown | Sprint Champion 2004 |
| 2001 | Sightseek (f) | 10-time Stakes Winner |
| 2002 | Storm Flag Flying (f) | Champion 2yo filly 2002 |
| 2003 | Kitten's Joy | Turf Champion 2004 |
| 2004 | English Channel | Turf Champion 2007 |
| 2004 | Commentator | 2-Time NY Horse of the Year |
| 2005 | Discreet Cat | Co-World Champion 3yo 2006 |
| 2005 | Wait a While (f) | Champion 3yo filly 2006 |
| 2007 | Indian Blessing (f) | Champion 2yo filly 2007 |
| 2007 | War Pass | Champion 2yo 2007 |
| 2007 | Big Brown | Champion 3yo 2008 |
| 2010 | Uncle Mo | Champion 2yo 2010 |
| 2010 | More Than Real (f) | 2010 Breeders' Cup Winner |
From Maskette to Winning Colors, from Tom Fool to Commentator, Saratoga has seen stars begin it all there, year after year. And this list would have grown leaps and bounds if I had included horses that made their second start there. One thing, from the list of Saratoga debuts, that especially impressed me was the variety of champions. Males and females, dirt or turf, sprinters or routers, it's all happening at the Spa. In 2010, half the winners of the four Breeders' Cup races for juveniles started at Saratoga. Don't be too surprised if that happens again in 2011; I know I won't. Let the fun begin!