Saratoga feature races: Curlin star draw at stateside

At least the big Deauville meeting is ongoing in France and America has the delights of Saratoga’s feature races to keep us entertained.

This Saturday is the Group 1 Travers Stakes, the highlight of the Saratoga meeting and the oldest major thoroughbred race in America. Already this week, racegoers have had the chance to participate in a hot dog eating contest and on Tuesday an ice cream eating one. And today, expert Gary Vaynerchuk will encourage people to pair drinks with scrambled eggs, sausage and other breakfast foods.

As good a race as the Travers is sure to be though, it is the Group 1 Woodward Stakes next Saturday that is really catching the imagination with the proposed appearance of 2008 Dubai World Cup winner Curlin.

The Travers Stakes is sponsored by Shadwell operation, owned by Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai while Sunday’s Group 1 Prix Morny at Deauville carries the name of Shaikh Mohammad’s Darley organisation. This six-furlong feature, supported by a quality undercard, will hopefully provide a viable alternative for some would have been York runners.

Godolphin’s Folk Opera could be in action at Deauville on Sunday and the team will probably feel the loss of York as much as anyone as it was traditionally a meeting at which they excel.