Summer meet draws big fields for big purses

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – It might be difficult to outshine a Belmont Park meet at which the first Triple Crown in 37 years was accomplished, but the New York Racing Association hopes to do just that when the 147th Saratoga season opens Friday.

With the highest daily purses in the country, a lucrative stakes program, and the prestige of Saratoga, this 40-day meet brings together the top horses and horsemen from all over.

“Purses are very big,” said Martin Panza, NYRA’s senior director of racing operations. “At the end of the day, people want to run for money, and hopefully they will.”

Entries for the first two days filled superbly. There were 126 entries for 10 races Friday and 119 horses for 11 races Saturday. A maiden race for 2-year-olds Saturday drew 19 and was split. The Grade 3 Sanford, also Saturday, drew 11 juveniles.

Saratoga “is about 2-year-olds and 2-year-old racing,” Panza said.

On the negative side, Panza has lowered the bottom claiming level to $12,500, the same as at Belmont. Panza said the smaller foal crop and six-day racing schedule precipitated the need to drop the bottom. Saratoga is the last meet in the country that races six days a week.

Beginning Friday and lasting through Sept. 7, Labor Day, NYRA will offer 69 stakes worth a record $18.7 million in purses at Saratoga. The Travers Day program Aug. 29 offers seven stakes worth $5.1 million, topped by the $1.25 million Travers for 3-year-olds.

NYRA hopes to lure Triple Crown winner American Pharoah to the Travers. Chris Kay, NYRA’s president and chief executive, and Panza were at Del Mar last week and met with American Pharoah’s connections, owner Ahmed Zayat and trainer Bob Baffert.

American Pharoah is scheduled to run in the $1 million Haskell Invitational on Aug. 2 at Monmouth Park.

“Saratoga is definitely on our radar,” Zayat said Wednesday. “I understand the importance of Saratoga and the prestige of Saratoga.”

Wise Dan, a two-time Horse of the Year, has won a race during each of the last three summers at Saratoga. He recently returned to the work tab off an ankle injury and is expected to have his second breeze Friday at Keeneland. On Wednesday, Charlie LoPresti, Wise Dan’s trainer, said the Bernard Baruch Handicap – a race Wise Dan won last year – on Sept. 7 is a “very good possibility.”

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All-sources handle at Saratoga in 2014 averaged $14.28 million daily, down from $14.67 million in 2013. Some variables that could impact business this year are the presence of a Laurel summer meet, another summer meet at Gulfstream, and Del Mar switching to a dirt surface from synthetic.

Two rules changes go into effect starting at this meet that could help boost handle. First, superfecta wagering will be permitted in races in which there are coupled entries. Second, there no longer will be coupled entries in stakes races.

Perhaps the person most looking forward to the opening of Saratoga is Larry Collmus, who replaces the retired Tom Durkin as track announcer.

“People have asked me after calling a horse winning the Triple Crown, ‘What could you possibly look forward to?’ ” Collmus said. “The answer is Saratoga. It’s something I’ve been dreaming about since I got in this business in the ’80s, and to be calling the races up here is the culmination of a dream come true.”

The summer does not begin without some consternation from the local community over several changes at the meet. NYRA eliminated the open house, a popular event typically held the Sunday before the meet at which locals are reintroduced to the track and community groups host fundraisers.

NYRA has added more than 100 picnic tables, which will be available for a fee ($40 on weekdays, $60 on weekends) and will be fenced off from the remainder of the picnic area, which will house 850 tables available on a first-come, first-served basis. Backyard spectators most certainly will be more cramped than in years past.

The Carousel area has been revamped into a sports bar where table space will be sold and coolers will be prohibited. There is a new Walk of Fame, which ultimately figures to honor many of the same legends in the sport as those honored across the street at the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.

Kay declined to speak Wednesday with Daily Racing Form about these issues. John Durso Jr., a spokesman for NYRA, said there has been some negative feedback.

“We’re certainly aware any change can be greeted with skepticism, and we understand that,” Durso said. “All of the changes that have been put in place for Saratoga Race Course 2015 are being done with our fans in mind.”