Franco hoping for hotter start, bigger wins as Saratoga meet begins
?q=100)
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Manny Franco won the most races on the New York Racing Association circuit last year and is on track to do it again this year. Now, he’d like to start winning some of the better races.
Franco has been the leading rider at four of the last five NYRA meets dating back to the Belmont at the Big A season last fall. His 53 wins during the Belmont at the Big A spring-summer meet, which included eight victories during the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival at Saratoga, were 20 more than his nearest rival, Flavien Prat.
Friday, the 46-day Saratoga meet begins and the majority of the top riders in the country will be here daily. Irad Ortiz Jr. and his brother, Jose; Prat; Tyler Gaffalione; and Luis Saez are in from Kentucky to join the New York regulars, including Kendrick Carmouche, Jose Lezcano, John Velazquez, Javier Castellano, Dylan Davis, and Ricardo Santana Jr. Edgard Zayas, who moved his tack to New York earlier this year, will ride his first full Saratoga meet.
Franco, 31, wants to improve on his 2025 Saratoga numbers, where he won just 20 races, his lowest win total since he won 18 in 2021. Moreover, Franco went 0 for 28 in stakes races at the 2025 Saratoga stand.
Though he has won 147 races nationally this year, Franco has won only two graded stakes, the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Turf on Test Score and the Grade 3 Gotham on Iron Honor.
“I don’t think I have to prove anything,” Franco said. “I feel great because I’m a competitor, want to do good like them. You can’t make too many mistakes. You got to take advantage of the opportunities. That’s what I’m trying to do.”
In two of the last three meets, Franco has gotten off to slow starts here. In 2023, he began the meet 5 for 79 but had a strong finish, winning 36 races, good enough for third in the standings. Last year, Franco began the meet 9 for 87 and finished winning with 11 of his last 150 mounts
“I can’t say why,” Franco said when asked about the slow starts. “This business is up and down. Sometimes it doesn’t go your way.”
John Panagot, Franco’s agent, said a fast start is important.
“You got to start well,” Panagot said. “If they run away from you the first few days, that’s when [the horsemen] start looking at the standings. A couple of years ago, Manny started slow and finished better than anybody. The first couple of weeks, he wasn’t the buzz. I wish we had a another three weeks because at the end, they were talking about us.”
Circumstances could enable Franco to get off to a strong start this summer. Several jockeys – including Ortiz Jr., Saez, and Carmouche – are serving suspensions to start the meet. Franco is named on 10 horses on Friday’s opening-day card, including three for both Linda Rice and Miguel Clement and two for Brad Cox. On Saturday, Franco rides three for Clement and two for Chad Brown, including Just Aloof in the Grade 1 Belmont Oaks. He will also ride Hit Show for trainer Brad Cox in the Grade 2, $500,000 Suburban.
Brown said he plans to have Franco in the mix of riders he will use this this summer.
“Hopefully, we can knock out some winners,” Franco said, “and take advantage of what is happening with some of the jockeys and hope for the best.”
That Franco is riding more for Rice is a new development in 2026. Franco went 0 for 5 for Rice in 2025. So far, in 2026, Franco has 14 wins from 37 mounts for Rice, a .378 winning percentage.
“I just haven’t had the opportunity previously, but I started using him a little bit in the winter and, frankly, he’s a great rider,” Rice said.
On Friday, for Rice, Franco rides Anyway, the 5-2 morning-line second choice in race 3, Next on Stage (6-1 in race 5), and Magnanimous Max (4-1 in race 7).
“Linda is giving me a lot of opportunities. I think that will help my everyday business in Saratoga,” Franco said. “I’m hoping for the best this year and keep the momentum going.”
A fast start this weekend will go a long way toward doing just that.