Saratoga is More Than A Racing Meeting for Gargan

By arriving at Saratoga Race Course in early May, Danny Gargan has the opportunity to develop his younger horses for a possible brighter future.

One of the common characteristics of spring in Saratoga Springs is the opening of the Oklahoma Training Track and now the Saratoga Race Course main track in mid-April.

Each spring, trainers like Chad Brown, Todd Pletcher, Bill Mott and Christophe Clement bring a plethora of their horses to train and prepare for the Saratoga meet while occasionally racing downstate and other tracks.

Other trainers from downstate and outside of New York bring their smaller group of horses with the similar goal. However, Danny Gargan’s goal is different.

For Gargan, the opening of the training track and main track is more than a preparation for the annual Saratoga meet; it is also an opportunity for his younger horses develop into a possible brighter future.

“We are here to try to accomplish something more than a race meet,” Gargan said. “If we have a decent race meet, that’s fine. We are trying to get these young horses started. We are focused on younger horses developing into better [horses] down the road and in the future.”

Gargan has brought a stable to Saratoga just before the meet each year since 2013. Over the last 11 years, he has won several races that include Tax in the Grade 2 Jim Dandy and R Free Roll in the Grade 3 Honor Miss.

Though, one horse helped Gargan make his decision of brining horses to Saratoga once the tracks opened for training: Dakota Gold.

Toward the end of the Saratoga 2021 meet, Dakota Gold won his debut in an off-the-turf race at Saratoga. Just a little over three weeks later, the New York-bred gelding won the Nownownow Stakes at Monmouth Park, then continued to stay at Saratoga through early November.

Since then, Dakota Gold continues to training at Saratoga during the spring, summer, and fall months before going to Florida for the winter. This training strategy appears to have positive impact on him by winning a pair of New York Stallion Stakes races as a 3-year-old and taking the Hudson Valley Stakes as a 4-year-old. He has also finished either second or third in five other listed stakes races.

Dornoch, winner of the Belmont Stakes here at Saratoga last month, can now be added to the list of Gargan’s horses who have followed that path to stakes-winning success.

In May 2023, Dornoch, as a 2-year-old, arrived to the Saratoga for training, which included 10 published workouts, before finishing second behind Seize the Grey in his first start. After Dornoch finished second in the Sapling Stakes at Monmouth, then winning his first race in October at Keeneland, Gargan brought him back to New York where he won the Grade 2 Remsen Stakes at Aqueduct in December.

Even Gargan’s other stakes-winning 3-year-old Society Man started training here at Saratoga last year. While it took Society Man four races to win his first start in March at Aqueduct, the gelding came back with a respectable second-place finish in the Grade 2 Wood Memorial in April and a convincing victory in the Grade 3 Matt Winn Stakes at Churchill Downs last month.

Gargan believes that serene environment and excellent track maintenance from NYRA Executive Vice President of Operations and Capital Projects Glen Kozak and his staff has helped his horses remain relaxed and sound.

“It’s the tracks and facilities,” Gargan said. “It is peaceful. The horses are relaxed here. We have round pens. We can graze them. It is more like a farm setting. It gives the horses a chance to get not too wound up. Horses develop when they are not stressed. If you train at a racetrack all of the time, I feel like it is harder because they are stressed all of the time. This is a more laid-back environment that gives the horses the best chance to develop.”

“New York is lucky by having the best track man in the country,” Gargan added. “Glen Kozak is, by far, the best track man. He takes unbelievable care of all of these tracks. I give him a lot of credit to where we are. We are lucky to have him as our horses stay sound here. We are trying to get stakes horses every year, and this is how to do it.”

Gargan currently has 38 horses, which includes 14 2-year-olds, that he rotates between here and downstate. One of his 2-year-olds who has gained attention is Complexion, who is a half-sister to multiple Grade 1 winner Jack Christopher.

After arriving at Saratoga in May while posting five solid workouts over the Oklahoma Training Track, Complexion came out with an impressive performance three weeks ago by winning her debut by 6½ lengths at Aqueduct. Based off that performance, Gargan entered her for the $175,000 Schuylerville Stakes on Opening Day.

“I like her a lot. I think she has some talent,” Gargan said. “I have a few [2-year-olds] who I like a lot, but it’s still early. I don’t have a big two-turn horse right now who could be a Dornoch. We don’t get horses like him every day, but we might have a couple of fillies of the caliber.”

Other horses who have been training at Saratoga for Gargan include New York-bred Ramblin’ Wreck (winner of last year’s Rick Violette Stakes) and Queen’s Martini (won debut at Saratoga last year).

“We are trying to get these young horses started,” he added. “We are trying to get them in the right direction down the road. We are trying to look at another Society Man and Dornoch for next year. That’s our goal. We have been coming here, we had multiple stakes horses. Let’s knock on wood and hope that keeps happening.”

“We are focused on younger horses developing into better [horses] down the road and in the future.”