A Somewhat Super Saturday

Good, bad and ugly. What else could you have expected on a day with so many major stakes and so many storylines? A diary of a rainy day in New Jersey spent glued to the computer and the ADW simulcast feed, trying to figure out 13 stakes races on an afternoon where you never had time to take a breath:

1:53: It gets going with the GI Frizette S. at Belmont, which yields a scintillating stretch battle between Yellow Agate (Gemologist) and Libby's Tail (Tiz Wonderful). Yellow Agate wins by a head for Christophe Clement. When did this guy start winning stakes races for 2-year-olds on the dirt?

2:28: As if you didn't already know this, there is too much racing, not enough good horses and way too many trainers who believe the best way to maximize income for their owners is to run as little as possible. So this is what you get–a $350,000, Grade II race with five horses. Oh, by the way, Anchor Down (Tapit) won the GII Kelso H.

3:03: Well, Lady Eli (Divine Park) is certainly back. Brilliant, but unlucky (she stepped on a nail after winning the GI Belmont Oaks last year), she looked vulnerable for the first time in her career when suffering her first loss in the GII Ballston Spa S. last time out. Was she being asked to overcome too much? Not at all. She rebounded with a win in the GI Flower Bowl S. and will be the likely favorite in the GI Breeders' Filly & Mare Turf.

3:38: The Belmont Turf Sprint Invitational. Good betting race, but not much else to say about it other than Clement wins another, with Pure Sensation (Zensational).

4:01: Keeneland's card is delayed by a power failure, so their stakes slate gets off to a late start. After four dismal starts overseas, Mongolian Saturday (Any Given Saturday) returns to the U.S. for the GIII Woodford S. and picks right up where he left off when winning last year's GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint. Little disappointed that the Mongolian Saturday clan didn't wear their Mongolian garb.

4:15: The most thrilling race of the day as Practical Joke (Into Mischief) wins the bob over Syndergaard (Majesticperfection) in the GI Champagne S. It was a huge race for both. Practical Joke overcame a poor start that cost him two or three lengths and Syndergaard had to deal with a suicidal pace battle with Big Gray Rocket (Tapit) as the two whipped their away around the Belmont track in fractions of 22 3/5, 44 3/5 and 1:08 3/5. The winner is trained by Chad Brown, who also had the third-place finisher Favorable Outcome (Flatter). So now he's also “the man” when it comes to 2-year-old dirt races? Todd who?

4:38: No excuses for favorite Stonetastic (Mizzen Mast) in the GII Thoroughbred Club of America S. as she finishes second. Nice ride by Julien Leparoux aboard winner Irish Jasper (First Defence) sneaking up the rail

4:48: Chad Brown is quickly becoming one of those guys you love to hate. He's that good. He wins his third stakes of the day in the GIII Hill Prince S. and, just top to it off, finishes one-two-three as Camelot Kitten (Kitten's Joy) beats stablemates Beach Patrol (Lemon Drop Kid) and Annals of Time (Temple City). Smile once in a while, will you, Chad? You're on top of the world.

5:03: 1-2 shot Lord Nelson (Pulpit) gallops to an easy win in five-horse GI Santa Anita Sprint Championship. Ho, hum.

5:11: Anyone notice how Belmont and Keeneland are separating their races from one another instead of running them right on top of one another? Well done, and a refreshing change from the many days when the sport seems to run every race that matters minutes, if not seconds, apart. Deflating to see Tepin (Bernstein) lose the GI First Lady S. and snap her seven-race winning streak. But don't think she won't be back. This was just a weird race. Kent Desormeaux opened up by 10 lengths with winner Photo Call (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and simply got so far ahead of the pack that she couldn't be caught. Great ride by a smart veteran.

5:23: Sorry, can't get all giddy about the day when a great race like the GI Jockey Club Gold Cup–the $1 million GI Jockey Club Gold Cup–draws five horses and no stars. This isn't a Grade III, $100,000 race, for crying out loud. It's the Gold Cup. Kelso, Nashua, Citation, Gallant Fox, Man o'War, Shuvee, Affirmed, Curlin. There is more to the world of horse racing than the Breeders' Cup. It is ridiculous that so many trainers just refuse to run their horses more than four or five times a year and think nothing else after Saratoga and Del Mar matters but the Breeders' Cup.

Give all the credit to Bob Baffert, who scratched Hoppertunity (Any Given Saturday) from the GI Awesome Again last week at Santa Anita where he had no chance against California Chrome (Lucky Pulpit) and shipped across the country for the Gold Cup. He knew it would be the easiest $1 million race any horse would ever run in. He just made his owners $600,000 and put a Grade I win on the horse's resume. Yes, it pays to actually run.

5:46: The pain didn't last long for Tepin's trainer Mark Casse or her jockey Leparoux as they came right back to win the GI Breeders' Futurity with Classic Empire (Pioneer of the Nile) in an impressive effort. Now the debacle in the GI Hopeful S., where he wheeled and dumped his rider, can be forgotten.

6:17: Miss Temple City (Temple City) keeps making Graham Motion look like a genius. He keeps ducking Tepin (Bernstein) and every time he does something good happens. When Tepin ran against the girls in the GI Jenny Wiley S., he wanted no part of her, so he sent his filly against the boys in the GI Maker's Mark Mile and got the victory. He did it again, this time with $1 million up for grabs. With Tepin opting for the race for fillies, the

GI First Lady S., Motion zigged while she zagged and took on males in the GI Shadwell Turf Mile. It pays to be scared of Tepin. Miss Temple City won in a game effort over Ironicus (Distorted Humor).