Plenty to look forward to as meet seeks rebound from difficult 2023
?q=100)
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – As successful as the four-day Belmont Stakes Racing Festival was when it was held here last month, it couldn’t completely erase the bad memories of the 2023 Saratoga summer meet.
As racing is set to commence Thursday on the 40-day Saratoga season, the New York Racing Association hopes to rebound from last year’s meet lowlighted by a large number of equine fatalities and rainy weather that led to a 9 percent decline in business from the previous year.
More than 10 inches of rain fell from July 1 to Sept. 3 last year and forced 65 races off the grass – compared to 16 in the summer of 2022. The weather impacted the track surfaces, which contributed, at least in part, to the 12 racing-related fatalities that included two on the biggest days of the meet before large crowds and a national television audience.
“Last year was challenging, it was unfortunate, but we move forward,” NYRA CEO and president Dave O’Rourke said. “In terms of the amount of rain we had last year, it was an anomaly. You’re always going to get rain up there, but in my time here I don’t know if it’s rained that much in a meet.”
Unfortunately, rain could impact the first few days of this meet with storms forecast for Wednesday into Thursday and rain chances Friday and Saturday as well. Fifteen of the 33 races carded through Saturday are scheduled for the turf.
From a safety perspective, O’Rourke believes that tracks, in conjunction with the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority, are implementing practices and protocols that are making the sport safer.
“The industry is in the best place it’s ever been in terms of safety, the sharing of data across tracks, one regulator,” O’Rourke said. “The industry is in a great spot. We’re looking forward to having a great, safe meet.”
Despite the adverse conditions, the 2023 meet still handled $799,229,288, the third highest total in track history. The appetite to wager on Saratoga was evident again when $197,426,085 was wagered on the four-day festival in June. Even that was hampered by inclement weather as the Sunday card saw rain that forced all turf racing to the dirt.
“The fans had a great time and the racing was spectacular,” O’Rourke said. “This is Saratoga. This is Christmas in summertime for horse racing fans.”
The Belmont Stakes Racing Festival featured many of the best horses in training and many are due back this summer. That includes the winners of all three Triple Crown races – Mystik Dan, Seize the Grey, and Dornoch – all of whom are on the grounds and targeting the Grade 1, $1.25 million Travers on Aug. 24. Mystik Dan is going to train up to the race while Seize the Grey and Dornoch are expected to run in the Grade 1, $1 million Haskell at Monmouth Park on July 20 beforehand.
Thorpedo Anna, the top 3-year-old filly in training, is targeting the Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks here on July 20 and then, most likely, the Grade 1 Alabama on Aug. 17.
National Treasure, arguably the top older dirt male in training having won the Pegasus and Metropolitan Handicap, is pointing to the Grade 1 Whitney here on Aug. 3, trainer Bob Baffert said Monday. Baffert indicated that his top 3-year-old Muth could possibly race at Saratoga.
As last month’s New York Stakes showed, the female turf division is deep. Didia and Neecie Marie, who ran one-two in the New York, will be rematched in Saturday’s Grade 1 Diana along with a quintet of runners from the barn of Chad Brown, who has won seven of the last eight runnings of the Diana.
Brown will be favored to win his seventh Saratoga title – he tied for top honors last year with Linda Rice. Brown hopes to be a factor in the Jim Dandy and Travers with Sierra Leone and Unmatched Wisdom, the latter a lightly raced 3-year-old who will likely run in the Curlin on July 19.
:: Access morning workout reports straight from the tracks and get an edge with DRF Clocker Reports
Two-year-olds are a staple of the Saratoga program. Last July 29, Seize the Grey beat Dornoch in a 2-year-old maiden race. A day apart last August, Fierceness and Just F Y I won their debuts here and ended up being the champion 2-year-old male and female, respectively.
Irad Ortiz Jr. will be favored to win his third straight and sixth overall Saratoga jockey title; his competition will be stout. Jose Ortiz, after spending the spring and early summer in Kentucky, is back in Saratoga along with fellow Kentucky-based riders Tyler Gaffalione and Luis Saez. They will join such high-quality New York riders as John Velazquez, Joel Rosario, Flavien Prat, Manny Franco, Dylan Davis and Jose Lezcano.
After this four-day opening week, racing will be conducted Wednesdays through Sundays through Sept. 2. Post time is 1:10 p.m. most days, 12:35 p.m. on Saturdays, with adjustments Travers Day and closing weekend.
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.