Franco sets wins record; clinches first local jockey title
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SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Jockey Manny Franco called it “the summer of a lifetime,” and who could argue.
Franco went into Monday’s closing-day card having already clinched his first Saratoga riding title with 70 wins. He capped his spectacular meet on Sunday by winning four races, including the Grade 1 Hopeful on The Good Life a few hours after he won the Grade 3 Prioress on Mashallah.
“That was one accomplishment that I have on my bucket list, finally we made it,” Franco said. “I win Aqueduct, Belmont, but I wanted this one for sure. This is the best jockey colony right now, doing it here is exciting.”
Franco also did it a year after he won just 20 races at Saratoga last summer. His previous meet best was 36 wins in 2023.
“You have to turn the page, every year is different,” Franco said. “This year, we came here with a lot of momentum from Aqueduct. I was excited for this summer, so here we are.”
The Hopeful was Franco’s 11th stakes win and fourth Grade 1 win of the meet. He also won the Travers, Alabama, and Christophe Clement.
“When you win those kinds of races it gets you to [another] level,” said Franco, who is represented by agent John Panagot. “I’m just happy to get those chances and make it happen.”
Franco’s 70th win came on day 44 of a 45-day meet. He broke the record of 68 set by Ramon Dominguez in 2012, when the meet was 40 days.
Services for John Parisella
A funeral service for trainer John Parisella, who died on July 3, will be held Thursday at St. Agnes Cathedral in Rockville Centre, N.Y. at 10:45 a.m.
Parisella, who trained in both New York and in California, won more 1,241 races in a colorful career in which he was dubbed “trainer to the stars” for his association with celebrities Don Rickles, James Caan, Jack Klugman, and Telly Savalas.
Parisella trained a large number of graded stakes winners that included Simply Majestic, Chapel of Dreams, Chieftain’s Command, Am Capable, Danzig’s Dance, Raja’s Shark, Kamikaze Rick, Fray Star, Don Rickes, Fight Over, and Jones Time Machine. Fight Over finished third in the 1984 Preakness. Simply Majestic finished third in the 1988 Breeders’ Cup Mile.
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