SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Technically, the Saratoga meet hasn’t even started yet, but Flavien Prat is in midseason form. Prat, who in 2024 set Saratoga single-meet records for stakes wins (18) and graded stakes wins (14), enters the traditional 40-day meet, which begins Thursday, off a holiday weekend in which he won seven races during Saratoga’s July Fourth Racing Festival, including four stakes. He won five races on Saturday’s card – the second time in a nine-day span in which Prat won five races on a card – and captured his first New York Racing Association riding title in what was the Belmont at the Big A spring/summer meet. In the spring, Prat had the most wins among jockeys at the Keeneland meet, his first Kentucky riding title. “It’s great to win a meet, but it’s not the priority,” Prat, the reigning Eclipse Award-winning journeyman rider, said over the weekend. “It was nice to win Keeneland. It would be nice to win here – one in Kentucky, one in New York – and I’ve done it in California before.” Prat didn’t win the most races at the 2024 Saratoga meet – Irad Ortiz Jr. had 52 wins to his 45 – but Prat won most of the biggest races here last summer. His 14 graded stakes triumphs included seven Grade 1s, five which came for trainer Chad Brown. It was part of a championship year in which Prat set single-year records for wins in stakes (82) and graded stakes (56). :: Bet Smarter at Saratoga. Unlock DRF data and expert analysis all meet long. Save with a Saratoga Handicapping Package from DRF.  A little more than halfway through 2025, Prat finds himself atop the leaderboard in purse money earned with $17,309,445, about $1.3 million more than Irad Ortiz Jr. Prat’s 144 wins have him fifth in that category. On his five-win day on June 27 at Aqueduct, Prat recorded his 2,000th career victory. At last summer’s Saratoga meet, Prat made all the right moves, including choosing to ride Domestic Product in the Grade 1 H. Allen Jerkens in a field where Prat had his pick of four of the top five betting choices. One of Prat’s top mounts at Saratoga this summer figures to be Verifire, who is 3 for 3 and heading to the Jerkens. Prat kicked his 2024 meet off with a victory in the Grade 1 Diana aboard Whitebeam for Brown. Saturday, he will ride Excellent Truth in the Grade 1 Diana for Brown, who has won eight of the last nine Dianas. Prat rode Excellent Truth in the Jenny Wiley, a race in which she finished second, but an argument could have been made that she was interfered with and should have been elevated to first. Excellent Truth came back in the Grade 1 New York and ran second to She Feels Pretty, with whom she will get a rematch Saturday. “At Keeneland, I think she should have won,” Prat said. “Then you come back here and you expect her to win, so I was a bit disappointed, but I think a mile and an eighth is going to be right up her alley. I’m expecting a good race.” Prat, 32, will be out of town the last two Saturdays in July, riding Goal Oriented in the $1 million Haskell on July 19 at Monmouth Park, as well as Nysos in the Grade 2 San Diego and World Record in the Grade 1 Bing Crosby on July 26 at Del Mar. Nysos is trying to add his name to the list of top older dirt males in a pretty deep division. He came off a 15-month layoff to run second in the Grade 1 Churchill Downs, a seven-furlong race won by Mindframe, who came back to win the Grade 1 Stephen Foster on June 28 at Churchill Downs. Meanwhile, Nysos came back May 31 at Santa Anita to win the Grade 3 Triple Bend at seven furlongs. Prat rode Nysos to a pair of Grade 3 stakes victories in 2024. “We always felt like Nysos was a very good horse,” Prat said. “After a long layoff, he ran very well in the Churchill stakes, getting beat a nose by Mindframe, who came back and won a good race. Then [Nysos] run back and run a tremendous race as well.” Nysos has to prove himself at a route of ground. He has only won up to a mile, but Prat is confident that the 1 1/16 miles of the San Diego won’t be problematic. A good performance there likely leads to a try at 1 1/4 miles in the Grade 1, $1 million Pacific Classic on Aug. 30 back at Del Mar. Prat believes his success at Saratoga last year was the result of it being his third meet here and gaining a comfort level with the tracks and competition. “I understood what you could do and could not do on the track, and I think that was the main thing,” Prat said. As far as topping what he did here last summer? “I’m realistic. I know it’s going to be hard to beat last year,” Prat said. “I never set goals like I want to win so many races. Honestly, all I want to do is improve my riding skill. Obviously, you want to compete and have a good meet, but I don’t have any set goals. I just want to ride well.” :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.