Travers Day is the biggest day of the Saratoga Race meet, both an exciting race day in its own right, and a chance for eager horses/trainers/owners to shoot for the Breeders' Cup in the fall. This year's race day includes the Travers itself, and a wonderful undercard including the King's Bishop.

Hard Spun, one of my favorite Triple Crown contenders, is entered in the King's Bishop, and he, of course, is my top choice for the race. I'll mix and match him with some of the other entries once I take a look at them. I don't think we've seen the best of Hard Spun, and the King's Bishop may be one of the races where we do. His trainer has to shorten him for the race, but I think the horse is smart enough and versatile enough to handle it.

Curlin is not running on Travers day at all, which I think is a wise choice. He's tired, he needs the rest. Derby winner Street Sense, contenders CP West, and Sightseeing are all currently entered. Street Sense and Sightseeing are my two top picks so far. I'll take a look at Tiz Wonderful, because any horse related to Tiz Now is worth a look. Loose Leaf is also running - I want to take a look at him to see if there's room for me to mix and match him with Street Sense and Sightseeing.

Rags to Riches was originally supposed to run in the Alabama Stakes (run Aug. 18), but she wasn't ready after her fever and her medical tests, so she didn't run, and is pointed towards a fall campaign. I'd rather Pletcher was cautious with her than ran her just because that's what the public wants. The "public" doesn't have to take care of her, and she's far too precious to lose for someone's ego. Lady Joanne was the winner of this year's Alabama , surviving an inquiry. Her jockey was Calvin Borel, who won the Derby this year on Street Sense, and who will ride him again in the Travers.

Nobiz Like Shobiz, my pick for the Derby (he finished 10 th ) and still one of my favorite horses, won in his turf debut this summer at Saratoga, showing his versatility on both dirt and grass. I hope they keep him on the grass. I think he prefers the give on the grass.

Saratoga 's numbers have been high this year, mostly because of the giveaways such as umbrellas and lawn chairs. The August 12 lawn chair giveaway toted up 72,745 paid admissions. When you look at the number of people who bought multiple admissions/vouchers and strolled away rolling shopping carts full of lawn chairs (many of which were up on eBay that very day), the numbers lie. However, as a spectator that day, the place was more crowded than usual, and some people actually used their lawn chairs and stayed for the races, which is good. Especially with the crisis New York horse racing currently faces, we need high numbers.

Unfortunately, the bigger the giveaway, the more disappointing the race card usually is for the day. There was nothing wrong with the August 12 race card, but it wasn't anything that would make me go if I wasn't already planning on it.

However, the highlight of the day was meeting Dave.

There are many horses with complicated or elaborate names in this sport. But Dave is, well, Dave. Dave is the closest thing to a hippie horse I've ever met. He's completely mellow, friendly, and calm. Trained by Barclay Tagg (Funny Cide's trainer) and owned by The Three Colleens Stable and Partingglass Stable, this gelding is adored. He was born on Joe Gerrity's farm in Kinderhook, and sold to Three Colleens/Partingglass when Gerrity died. His attitude is, "Hey, I'm Dave" - not aggressive or arrogant. He's the equine equivalent of a surfer dude, completely mellow until it's time to compete. As he walked to from the paddock to the track, people lined up along the rails calling out, "Hi, Dave!" He'd turn his head and nod at them. He won the Kingston in May. He first garnered notice in 2005, when he won two races in five days. He came in fourth in this year's West Point Handicap, a race which unfolded oddly.

Retribution shot out of the gate and burned the field. At one point, along the backstretch, he had a 12 furlong lead over the other horses. His only real threat at any point was a horse named Red Zipper, who spent most of the race in second place. Red Zipper and his jockey Eiber Coa kept their wits about them, not trying to run Retribution down, just running their race. They ended up in second place, picked off by Classic Pack in the last sixty or seventy yards. Classic Pack's rally was a surprise, considering how upset he was in the gate, what an awkward start he had, and that he was six wide on the final turn. Dave may not have won this race, but he's won the heart of at least one new fan.

There were some very interesting horses available at the Fastig-Tipton sales this year. There is one NY bred that I hope makes it to the track - since I can't own this horse, I want to be one of its biggest fans. He's a colt named Empire Express, born on March 16, 2006. His sire is Tiz Now and his dam is Morning Sun. He's a full brother to one of my favorite fillies, Lauren's Tizzy. Watch this horse - if he ends up with the right owner and trainer, he's going to be amazing. There's another NY bred, an as-yet unnamed bay colt born on March 13, 2006, with Point Given as the sire and Do Your Thing as the dam.

This year's Travers Day is Saturday, August 25. I'm hoping for a sunny but cool day, and a gorgeous day of racing.