Saratoga overcomes heat, multi-horse spill to mount successful opening day
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SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Friday was a hot day at Saratoga, but neither the temperature nor the heat index came close to forcing the cancellation of the racetrack’s opening-day card.
Thus, the 11-race program went on as scheduled as the longest meet in Saratoga history – 46 days – began its two-month run.
Horses and horsemen not only survived the heat, but they weathered a scary-looking four-horse spill in the Wild Applause Stakes that, thankfully, turned out much better than it looked.
At the top of the stretch of that turf race, I Love Giraffes clipped heels with Pillar of Beauty, causing I Love Giraffes and jockey Paco Lopez to fall to the turf. It started a chain reaction that caused Paris Carver (Javier Castellano), Smexy (Tyler Gaffalione), and Lovely Grey (Dylan Davis) to also fall. The horses got up and ran loose around the course before being caught by outriders. Lovely Grey was vanned off but was reported by trainer Kelsey Danner to have suffered just a few lacerations.
Castellano was taken off the course on a stretcher and went to a local hospital complaining of hip pain. Dylan Davis, though cleared to ride, took off his remaining two mounts – including Heeere’s Johnny, who would win the Saranac Stakes with Jaime Rodriguez aboard. Paco Lopez and Tyler Gaffalione both rode the remainder of the card, with Lopez winning the $200,000 Schuylerville Stakes aboard Harper’s Corner.
“We had a scare, but thankfully it looks like everybody is okay,” said Dave O’Rourke, president and CEO of the New York Racing Association. “Prayers out for Javier that he’s all good, and [we] hope to see him tomorrow.”
The heat and perhaps the early start to the meet kept the crowd down to 14,062. Total handle on the 11-race card was $23,457,265. Perhaps the fairest comparable day is last July 4, a Friday, when attendance was 16,249 and total handle was $25,008,670.
“When you start this early in July, you can expect a little slower start, but still, in terms of the racetrack landscape, it was a nice crowd,” O’Rourke said. “To break $20 [million] on a day like today is pretty powerful. Saratoga’s an incredible brand. If you can get the content on the track, the market reacts to it.”
The light crowd was definitely noticeable prior to the first race, when track announcer Frank Mirahmadi tried to rouse the fans into shouting “And They’re Off at Saratoga” as the horses sprang from the gate in front of the grandstand for the opener.
The first race was won by McAfee, who jockey John Velazquez rode to a front-running victory for trainer George Weaver. In the winner’s circle, Velazquez was clutching a bottle of water and mentioned that jockeys were drinking orange juice with salt to help keep hydrated.
“That’s like having Gatorade, but much healthier,” Velazquez said.
When asked about the heat, Velazquez said, “We’re taking our time as much as possible. Hope it stays the way it is. I think it’s going to get a couple of degrees warmer than it is right now, but I think we should be okay. There’s a bit of a breeze, so that’s pretty good.”
According to the weather service NYRA uses, the heat index reached a peak of 99 around 2:15 p.m. A heat index of 105 is likely to trigger a cancellation.
The riding star of the day was Jose Ortiz, who rode three winners, including To a Flame in the spill-marred Wild Applause. He also won on Oscar’s Encore and Metatron’s Muse. Velazquez won two races on the card.
Eleven different trainers won races, including Linda Rice, the leading trainer at the recently concluded Belmont at the Big A meet. She ran seven horses on the card and it seemed like all handled the elements well.
“We were going to take them out if they showed any distress [in the morning],” Rice said. “So far, so good. My horses handled it pretty well. Many of the ones had quiet temperaments, which helps.”
Indeed. It was a good day to keep one’s cool.