Saratoga: Opening day handle down 9 percent on off-turf card
?q=100)
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Even though it didn’t rain during the races Thursday, Mother Nature still had a negative impact on the opening-day card at Saratoga.
Heavy rain late Wednesday night and into the early hours of Thursday morning totaling 1.23 inches prompted the New York Racing Association to move all five scheduled turf races to the main track Thursday. There were 31 scratches in those races alone – one field was reduced to three horses – which put a damper on the betting.
All-sources handle for Thursday’s 11-race card was $18,578,172, a 9 percent decline from last year’s handle of $20,417,054 on a 10-race card. All scheduled turf races were run on the grass on opening day last year before rain forced all five races off the turf on the second day of the 2023 meet.
There were 88 starters in 11 races Thursday compared to 80 starters in 10 races on opening day last year.
Paid admissions Thursday was 28,541 compared to 29,102 on opening day last year.
Skies were bright when the day started, and Empty Tomb, dropping in from the $80,000 claiming level to $20,000, went gate to wire under Preakness-winning jockey Jaime Torres to win the opening race. Empty Tomb is trained by Robert Falcone Jr., who noted that he’s had horses stabled in Saratoga for two months.
“So, I kind of aimed for the meet, which usually I don’t do,” Falcone said in a post-race interview. “Usually, I try to reserve my horses [at] the meet, because I don’t want to lose them all in the claim box, but just did it a little bit differently this year.”
While at times the skies were ominous Thursday, it never rained during the races and the card was going smoothly until the featured $175,000 Schuylerville when several in the field of 11 2-year-old fillies acted up in the gate. Complexion acted up twice and had to be backed out and reloaded.
Whatintheliteral stumbled and unseated jockey Javier Castellano when the doors officially opened. That horse and rider were both okay. Another horse, Slang, was pulled up by jockey Ricardo Santana Jr. a furlong into the race but was deemed okay by trainer Norm Casse.
:: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match + FREE All Access PPs! Join DRF Bets.
The Schuylerville was won by the longest shot on the board, The Queens M G ($91), who was one of two winners on the card for jockey Dylan Davis. Brothers Irad Ortiz Jr. – the defending leading rider at this meet – and Jose Ortiz, a three-time leading rider at Saratoga, each rode two winners.
The races were won by 11 trainers.
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.