The oldest race in America is set for Saturday and it looks to be a real dandy of a race. And in fact, from the desk of the Track Philosopher it pencils out to have the same end as the story about Jim Dandy earlier this summer. And that story, as we all know, was just “A Little Warm”.

I’ve often wondered about who this race was named and here’s a capsule of some of that information:

William Riggin Travers was born in Baltimore, Maryland in July of 1819. He became an American lawyer and made a fortune on Wall Street. Along with John Hunter, in 1863 he founded Saratoga Race Course and served as its first president. Saratoga’s Travers Stakes is named in his honor and is the oldest major Thoroughbred horse race in the United States. In 1884, William Travers also became one of the backers of the Sheepshead Bay Race Track on Coney Island.

Travers was also a partner in Annieswood Stable with John Hunter and George Osgood. The operation had considerable success both in racing equines and with breeding at their Annieswood Stud farm in Westchester County, New York. Their horse, the Hall of Famer “Kentucky” won the first running of the Travers Stakes in 1864. One of their most famous horses was “Alarm”, considered one of the best sprint race horses in American Thoroughbred horse racing history.

Travers was a long-time president of the New York Athletic Club. On January 13, 1887 the club purchased Hogg Island in Long Island Sound and Pelham, New York shoreline from the estate of John Hunter and renamed it Travers Island in his honor.

It has been written that Travers was a well-known socialite and a member of 27 private clubs.

William R. Travers married Maria Louisa, the daughter of Reverdy Johnson. They had nine children, 3 sons and 6 daughters.

Travers died in Bermuda on March 19, 1887 from complications of diabetes. In his obituary, The New York Times wrote that he was “probably the most popular man in New York.”

A lot of excitement is starting to build for what is being called an East Coast (Devil May Care) / West Coast (Blind Luck) match up. Well, when one hears the word “match” a horseplayer thinks of “the match race” which involves only two horses on the track at one time. Evidently many have disregarded the rest of the field in the $500,000 Betfair TVG Alabama Stakes (G1) on Saturday at Saratoga Race Course.

There is probably many good reasons why the other 4 fillies are dismissed from the class of Devil May Care and Blind Luck. Let’s take a look at the leftovers and see if we can’t find a gem in the remains.

Acting Happy won the Black Eyed Susan! BUT that’s only a G2. She finished 3rd in the her only G1 last month! BUT was beaten soundly by almost 5 lengths by the winner Devil May Care. So let’s move on.

Tizahit won a G2 at Aqueduct! BUT it was way back in November of last year and she won it in an embarrassing final time… 3 to 4 seconds slower than Blind Luck or Devil May Care can do it. She’s since been seen hanging out with the allowance and optional claiming crowd. So let’s move on again.

Connie and Michael raced in a couple G races last year then went back to the allowance club to pick up a five length win then in June took second in the G1 Mother Goose! BUT she was beaten by, you guessed it, Devil May Care by one and a quarter lengths. OK, that’s respectable but can she do it again? Well, if she does then she still comes in second to the Devil.

Havre de Grace is first of all an odd name, what’s a havre? After looking up the translation I find that it means harbor of grace or safe harbor which would be perfect in this race since we are looking for value in a race with two chalky fillies, hence a safe harbor for our wager! BUT what has she done, you ask? She’s a really young 3 year old with only 5 races to speak of so far.

Last year it took her two races to break maiden but was impressive in both. Then in May of this year won an allowance race coming from 5 back. And, in June, was placed in the Delaware Park Go For Wand and lost by only a neck, not to shabby. Oh, finally in July at the same Delaware track, took second by a nostril in a photo finish with none other than Blind Luck. In addition, she is a Keeneland filly, trained by one of the best this year, Richard Dutrow, some of the best speed figures compared to all the other horses in this race, has recently clocked two bullets in her workouts, she’s a 4-1ML which is a great return on your investment and last but not least, she has improved her Beyer’s figure in each of her 5 races as she competes with better and better horses for first place.

In these troubled times I’m putting my money with a “safe harbor”, Havre de Grace to WIN! She’s the Rebel I was looking for in the Alabama.

What centuries ago began with the horse and later chariots and recently to stock cars, racing has definitely evolved. The one constant is the measure of “horse power”. Horse power is defined as a basic unit of power in the FPS system, equal to the power needed to raise a weight of 550 pounds a distance of 1 foot in 1 second.

There are some similarities and some huge differences in these types of racing. Here are some interesting comparisons (many are approximations):

TOPIC: Horse Racing vs NASCAR
COLOR: Jockey Silks vs Lavish Paint Jobs
HORSE POWER: 1 vs 800
TOTAL HP FOR ENTIRE EVENT: 90 vs 34,400
MILES TRAVELED: 1 vs 500
DECIBEL LEVEL (115 DANGEROUS): <50dbs vs >130Dbs Per Car (x43)
EVENT FUEL USED: 700 lbs. Oats vs 6,000 Gal. Gas
PIT STOPS: 0 Per Horse vs 8-12 Per Car
DRIVER STABILIZATION: Stirrups vs Head & Neck Harness and Belts
SHOES: 4 Re-usable Horse Shoes Per Horse vs 20-32 Tires Per Car
SPONSOR NAMES: 1-2 on Jockey & Horse vs 30-60 on Driver & Car
RAIN: Race vs Cancel
BREAK IN ACTION: 30 Min. Breaks vs 20 Min. Between Wrecks
POLLUTION: Minimal vs Extreme
FAN PARTICIPATION: Cheer, Bet & Win vs Silent Cheer and Deafness
ATTENDANCE: Down 1% to 14% vs Down 20% to 40%
ADMISSION: $3.00 vs Was $99 Now $55

The comparisons are approximations and have only some semblance of truth.