Wet and mushy

SARATOGA SPRINGS -- There is a permanent Saratoga Lake, and now it has company, because heavy rain the past three days has created many temporary bodies of water on the picturesque backstretch. If another monsoon hits, dedicated horseplayers might need water taxis to ferry them to the front gates.

Unlike Long Island, where the sandy soil absorbs torrential downpours within a few hours, the ground in upstate New York allows lots of standing water. The grass up here smells and looks different, and the mud has a slimy, greasy quality I've not seen elsewhere.

Speaking of turf, there has not been a race run on it yet at the 2008 Spa meeting. Wednesday's five grass races were moved to a sloppy main track on a day when there were 44 scratches. Overnight rain Tuesday that continued throughout Wednesday afternoon limited the opening-day crowd to 18,127, almost 12,000 fewer than last year's, which had excellent weather.

On Thursday, the first race, a steeplechase for allowance jumpers, was postponed, a rarity, and three grass races were shifted to the sloppy dirt. All that was done Wednesday afternoon, so at least handicappers were forewarned. By Thursday's fourth race, there were 34 scratches and counting. The sun was out by then, but it will be a few days before the two grass courses aren't swampy. Friday's feature, the Lake George, is aptly named, and is scheduled for the grass, but we'll see about that.

Last summer's glorious weather allowed all but six Saratoga grass races to be run. In two days, they've already lost eight, not counting the jump event. I hope this isn't an omen. NYRA management does, too, and is rooting a lot harder than me.