The Spa Spot: Morning Breeze
- The first twilight program is in the books and an 11-race program awaits on the final Saturday of July. First post is at 1 p.m.
- A stakes double-header of the Jim Dandy and the Diana forms the feature event of the day. Both races have very interesting and competitive fields, but the Grade 2 Jim Dandy is likely to garner more attention than the Grade 1 Diana because it is the local Travers prep. Plus, the race is named for a horse that knocked off a Triple Crown winner in the 1930 Travers at odds of 100-1.
- Europeans don't often ship into Saratoga, but a pair has come across for the $600,000 Diana. Law of the Range is in from England and may have enough early speed to put some pressure on the dangerous Tapitsfly. Dream Peace is based in France and last raced in a $2.3 million Group 1 in Singapore. She was the beaten favorite, third by a head, in the Grade 1 E.P. Taylor at Woodbine last year. The Diana is a top-notch race with four American stakes winners, including the defending champ, Zagora, in the field.
- Alpha is the morning-line favorite for the Jim Dandy. He's had a hiccup here and there in his career that have kept him from reaching the highest level of the division. He's healthy and fit and faces seven others. John Oxley's Prospective has won five stakes, including the Ohio Derby, and could be overlooked.