Four trainers get off the duck at Saratoga meet
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – It took until Day 29, but four trainers each got their first win of the Saratoga meet on Wednesday.
The most noteworthy victory was for trainer Mark Casse, who broke a 0-for-31 drought at the meet when Jack and Noah went gate to wire to win the $85,000 Mahony Stakes by 3 1/4 lengths. Prior to that, Casse had nine second-place finishes at the meet, five of those in stakes.
Jack and Noah, owned by Gary Barber, earned a 97 Beyer Speed Figure.
Following Casse’s victory, Tony Dutrow scored his first victory since Aug. 15, 2019, when Sweet Bye and Bye won an allowance race on turf.
Bob Klesaris won Wednesday’s nightcap with Madam Maclean.
Earlier on Thursday’s card, trainer Doug O’Neill won race 5 with Dipping In, who held off Hard Won by a head.
◗ Leading rider Irad Ortiz Jr. took off his four mounts on Thursday after suffering wrist pain when he was unseated in the gate by his mount, Dial Me Up, in Wednesday’s finale. Ortiz had X-rays taken of his wrist but they were negative, and he is making decisions about riding day-by-day.