Spin Cycle

A trusted New York racing savant has alerted us to an amusingly-named pair of horses that ran at Saratoga at the outset of the summer season: "Luv Gov" and "Ninth Client."

In this entry, one racing blogger had a good time with the tabloid-headline-bred monickers -- an apparently UNcoincidental reference to Eliot Spitzer, the disgraced governor and prostitute procurer.

On Monday, "Ninth Client" tied for first against 18-1 odds. On the Daily Racing Form site, racing writer Steve Crist said: "Ninth Client... named for former Gov. Spitzer's status in an FBI surveillance report as "Client No. 9" -- went to the front... turned back a bid from Lime Rickey in midstretch and then dead-heated..." (The full report is here.)

Luv Gov ran on Saturday with less success.

But wait -- it gets cuter.

Turns out these horses come out the stables of Mary Lou Whitney -- the prominent longtime socialite of Saratoga and other residences who once was married to Cornelius Vanderbilt "Sonny" Whitney. We are assured earnestly by those in the know that there is no connection to the fact that she served for a little while as honorary chairwoman of Empire Racing Associates -- one of the firms that was vying to replace New York Racing Association last year as operator of the tracks at Belmont, Saratoga (where attendance is down this year) and Aqueduct.

As it happened Spitzer, in one of his higher-profile decisions before becoming known as Client No. 9, chose to keep NYRA in charge. The rest is history -- and fodder for humor. You know -- like, he Spitzed the bit, he scratched early in the term, or a horse named State Trooper was nowhere to be found, or he wasn't stable, all that. Other quips welcome to post, but please remember we're kind of a family newspaper here.