A Lookback at Whitney Day
SARATOGA SPRINGS- All eyes were on Saratoga this weekend as Saturday’s 12-race card featured four graded stakes races. Whitney Day did not disappoint this year as along with the great races, Saratoga generated an all source handle record of close to thirty-six million dollars compared to last years Whitney day record of around thirty-two million.
Starting off the highlights for this weekend, in the ninety-third running of the Grade 1 Whitney, Improbable’s victory on Saturday garnered the most attention in the $750,000 stakes race. While looking shaken and unruly at the gate, Improbable’s trainer, Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, was quick to give his praise to the NYRA gate crew in a release to the NYRA.
When asked about this seemingly unexpected choice in praise, Baffert humorously replied “It’s like being in the gate with a bull sometimes…You have to thank the gate crew, the guys they had in there with him. He could have easily turned over, but they did a tremendous job, so I give them a big assist there because they did a great job.”
However, he did not stop there also giving his praise to jockey Irad Ortiz Jr., who managed to snag his second Whitney in three years. In the same release, Baffert commented more on the race saying “As much as he acts up in the gate, he always breaks really well. He breaks like a shot. After that, Irad got him in a nice rhythm. He followed Mr. Buff on the lead and tightened him along there and turned for home. Improbable had been working so well down here at Del Mar. It was a big effort there.”
Improbable’s win matched his namesake as the Whitney was his second time racing outside of California. Going off at 3-1 odds, the horse returned $8.30 on a $2 bet. With this win in the Whintey, Baffert becomes the first trainer since the mid-nineties to win this race back-to-back, the last being Hall of Famer Scotty Schulhofer in 1994-1995. Even with all of the big wins Baffert has had over his career, he still recognizes each new victory saying, “It’s such a prestigious race, and to win it, it means a lot…I’m lucky enough to train for some big outfits, and when you train for them, you get a lot more chances at it.”
While the Whitney did steal most of the spotlight this weekend, the other high grade races did not disappoint either with some upsets and small name victories. In the G1 Personal Ensign, Vexatious managed to pull off a major upset over the reigning champion Midnight Bisou in a last stretch duel. Going off at 5-1, the horse managed to pull off a clutch victory in the seventy-first running of the race.
Trainer Jack Sisterton was elated upon seeing his horse pull off such a win, but was quick to give his thanks to the rest of the team along with him exclaiming, “Words can’t describe the feeling… That’s what we live for, the opportunity to have horses in races like this, let alone win one. It just goes to show how good the people behind me are. I have a great staff and great owners. If it weren’t for the staff or the owners I wouldn’t be in this position.”
In the H. Allen Jenkins Memorial race, Echo town managed to get the first graded score for L and H racing. It was a big win for the small racing partnership. Partial owner Michael Levinson had this to say about the win, “It’s tough to win any race at Saratoga, but to win a prestigious race like the Allen Jerkens is fantastic. I can’t put into words what it means for us…We’re a small group of guys from Oklahoma trying to make a splash and that was a big victory yesterday.
With a weekend of great racing, look forward to this week’s big races such as the GII Saratoga Special, the GI Runhappy Travers, the GI Ballerina Hdcp., the GI Longines Test, the GIII Troy, and the GIII Waya.