On a weather day that was made to order, the Travers Stakes turned out to be the coronation that many expected when Sovereignty easily dispatched four rivals. His victory was accomplished in “racehorse time” – an old euphemism for fast – and he drew off while in hand at the finish. With the triumph, Sovereignty further cemented his position as the pro tem leader of the three-year-old division and would garner overall Horse of the Year honors with a win at Del Mar in the Breeders’ Cup Classic on Nov. 1. The strapping colt seems to actually be on the improve as he now works in perfect concert with his rider Junior Alvarado and no longer appears to be pace dependent. Despite being in training and racing for the full year, Sovereignty looks like a fresh horse and seems ready to try older horses to complete the year. 

Junior Alvarado

Junior Alvarado is having a tremendous year. Remarkably consistent year in and year out, Alvarado overcame an injury earlier this year to pilot Sovereignty to his wins and added wins in the Arlington Million and the Saratoga Derby for good measure. His poise in the saddle and off the track has been a big part of Sovereignty’s development and assent.

Derek Ryan

On the Travers undercard, Book’em Dano completed his sweep of the Saratoga older sprint stakes by winning the Forego Stakes under Paco Lopez. After looking beaten at the top of the stretch, the ultra-game sprinter powered his way to victory. Credit to trainer Derek Ryan for expertly managing the career of this New Jersey-bred gelding. Irish-born Ryan has put together a remarkable career developing stakes horses without having powerful owners behind him. Ryan seems lukewarm on the idea of going to the Breeders’ Cup despite Book’em Dano’s current form. Given how Ryan has expertly managed his runner thus far, the connections would be wise to follow his advice.

Thorpedo Anna

The Travers undercard also featured 2024 Horse of the Year Thorpedo Anna.  She did not disappoint as she fought her way to a narrow and hard-fought win, delighting her legion of fans. The champion was done no favors by her rider Brian Hernandez, Jr., who mistimed the winning move, but she found enough to hold off her challenger Dorth Vader, who ran too well to lose. Thorpedo Anna’s connections indicated they would pursue the Breeders’ Cup Distaff rather than challenge the boys in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, which seems the correct approach.

Ron Turcotte

Ron Turcotte passed away last week at the age of 84. Turcotte was best known as the rider of Secretariat during his 1973 Triple Crown sweep and was enshrined in the National Racing Museum and Hall of Fame and Canada Sports Hall of Fame. In 1972 (on Riva Ridge) and 1973 (on Secretariat) Turcotte won 5 of 6 Triple Crown races. The photograph of Turcotte looking backwards while astride Secretariat enroute to his 31-length victory in the Belmont Stakes is among the most iconic in sports history. 

Tragically, Turcotte’s career ended, after a spill, during a race at Belmont Park on July 13, 1978. The accident caused Turcotte injuries that left him partially paralyzed. Thereafter, he became a tireless advocate for the Jockeys Permanently Disabled Fund and other jockey-related causes.

Turcotte was born in Canada, and in a partial nod to his and trainer Lucien Laurin’s Canadian roots, Secretariat’s owner Penny Chenery arranged for Secretariat’s last race to be on the grass at Woodbine in Toronto. Cruelly, Turcotte was unable to ride Secretariat in Canada due to an unrelated riding suspension and jockey Eddie Maple piloted Big Red to victory. (NOTE: As an aside for younger fans, there is a belief by many, including this writer, that Secretariat was even better on grass than he was on dirt.)

Turcotte would, in fact, reunite with Secretariat after his final race when Secretariat was brought to Aqueduct Racetrack on Nov. 6, 1973 for a final public appearance. He was paraded with Turcotte aboard, dressed in the Meadow Stable silks before an appreciative crowd of 32,990.

Poignantly, Turcotte is the last human connection to Secretariat. He is survived by Gaetane, his wife of nearly 60 years, and their four daughters: Lynn, Ann, Tina, and Tammy.

Off Track Band

A Saratoga tradition completed another year when former jockey agent and NYRA official Ralph Theroux, Jr. completed another season of music on Monday nights at the Parting Glass with his band OFF TRACK BAND. With bandmates John Kribs, Orion Kribs, Bob Assini, and Kevin Maui, Theroux wows racetrack family and friends each Monday – here’s to looking forward to 2026.

Personal

It has been my great pleasure and honor to write this weekly column. I have tried to capture accurately and honestly what the Saratoga Race Course scene means to its participants and fans. 

I appreciate the many kind words I have received and value additional input. Look for my work throughout the year. I may be reached at wgotimer@verizon.net

Carson Gambaro, known for being the Saratoga Race Course bugler with his father Tony, continues to build upon his track goals – both running and announcing – once the meet is over after Labor Day.

The Labor Day weekend at Saratoga Race Course is not only the end of the 40-day meet, it is also that moment of transition with the leaves turning colors before falling to the ground as the summer season makes its exit in a couple of weeks.

The three-day weekend is also the last vestige of summer with vacations coming to an end, some young adults are going back to college, and families are returning to a routine around the school-year schedule, especially around high school sports.

After again co-leading the call to the post with his father Tony Gambaro this season, Carson Gambaro plans to continue his passion around running by covering and announcing high school track and field meets, as well as cross country races, while staying in shape as a sprinter for next year.

Since graduating from Syracuse University in 2022, along with being a Saratoga bugler and playing for his father’s band Ten Most Wanted, Gambaro became a freelance correspondent for MileSplit New York, a popular website and social media platform for high school runners and fans to find results, information, and interviews on various meets throughout the state.

That opportunity has led him to announce at track meets at Stillwater High School, where he graduated in 2018, and other local meets and invitationals where he has been polishing his skills.

“I joined MileSplit because I knew that they broadcasted the New York State Championships and other New York state invitationals,” Gambaro said. “That’s when I realized after getting reps as a public address announcer at my high school and other small local track meets, I wanted to get more serious about announcing the sport.”

Gambaro’s interest in announcing and running was something that developed going into the COVID-19 pandemic. As an undeclared freshman at Syracuse, Gambaro strived for a 4.0 grade point average that would allow him to transfer into the Newhouse School with the emphasis on the broadcasting digital journalism program. He wanted to follow the path of alumni Bob Costas and Mike Tirico.

“I have always been fond of sports and sports announcers,” Gambaro said. “I would always try to know who was announcing a primetime football game, the crew, the play-by-play and color [commentators], and some of the big names. Once I got into Newhouse and started getting some extracurricular experience, that’s where I developed the journalistic side to myself.”

Once the pandemic occurred during his sophomore year, Gambaro, like many college students at the time, initially struggled in finding activities and that extracurricular experience. That’s when he went back to his passion for running.

After marching band rehearsals, Gambaro went to Syracuse’s practice track for his own workouts with stretches and interval runs. He also became more interested in following the elite runners who competed at the World Championships and Diamond League.

“I didn’t have a whole ton of hands-on stuff to do with everything being remote,” Gambaro said. “That gave me some time to reconnect to a lost love of mine, and that was competitive track and field. I was also starting to watch professional track and field. That really made me a bigger fan of the sport.”

Growing up, Gambaro always had an interest in running, whether it was connected to going up the stairs, playing outdoor games with his friends, or even chasing after his Doberman Pinschers in the yard.

“I always just loved the idea of being fast when I was young,” he said “I always run up the stairs. I would always try to beat my friends and races. I didn’t think I’d always win because I didn’t really know how to run.”

By the time Gambaro got to Stillwater High School, he learned how to run, which led him to be a successful sprinter, especially during his senior year of the outdoor track season with a personal-best time of 56.22 seconds for 400 meters.

Along with being part of the winning 4×100-meter and 4×400-meter relay teams at the Wasaren League Championships, Gambaro anchored the 4×400-meter relay team that captured the Section II title.

The sectional title may have been more impressive for Gambaro after he overcame a disappointing 11th-place finish in the 400 meters. He also believes that his unofficial final split was within the 54-second range for the sectional title.

“I had a terrible race earlier that day when a gust of wind blew my hip number into my hand. I looked at it, and the next thing I knew I was out of the race. I was not happy,” he said. “But my coach told me, ‘You got to focus on your race.’ I knew that I had to go all or nothing.”

With self-recorded workouts, weight training and proper nutrition, with the exception of an occasional Oreo Double Stuffed cookie or slice of pizza from Jimmy’s in Malta, Gambaro still aims for the 54-second personal best performance at many meets throughout the Capital Region that include the Colonie Mile and Summer Track Series through the Hudson-Mohawk Road Runners Club.

Flirting around 56 to 57 seconds at the meets, Garmbaro got closer to his benchmark at the Empire State Sports Council Patriot Invitational at Watervliet in June. After announcing at the AAU event, executive director Anthony Mills allowed Garmbaro to compete in the masters division of the 400 meters. The electronic timer had Gambaro finishing in 55.66 seconds for his first race of the season.

“I completely blew myself away,” Gambaro said. “I had no indicators with the workouts that I was going to run anywhere near the time that I did.  I’m so grateful for [Anthony Mills] in making that opportunity happen.”

He has also entertained the local running scene. At one of the Colonie meets, long-time high school coaching notable Frank Myers and track official Mark Mindel convinced Gambaro, who scratched from the 400-meter event that day due to a hamstring pull, to dress in his bugler uniform and give a call to post for the 1-mile event.

Gambaro has also taken on other challenges such as running 400 meters in jeans, something similar to elite runner Johnny Gregorek Jr.’s blue jean mile, 400 meters in an Easter Bunny costume, and 1¼ miles in the bugler uniform.

Off the track, Gambaro continues to work on his announcing and digital broadcasting ventures through the In Full Stride podcast that is on his YouTube channel in which he interviews high school sprinters on their experiences and strategies in becoming a successful runner. One of Gambaro’s goals is getting the opportunity to announce at the World Championships and the Olympics.

In the meantime, Gambaro continues enjoying his two passions once the Saratoga racing season is over: track and announcing.

Hall of Fame jockey Ron Turcotte passed away last week. He was 84 years old. Born in Canada to an impoverished family, he and four of his brothers sought a better life. With their diminutive size, jockey silks were the perfect fit for the Turcotte crew.

Ron was the first to make the move in 1960. He got his start as a groom at E.P. Taylor’s legendary Winfields Farm. One by one, his four brothers followed him to the racetrack. It wasn’t long before the Turcottes would carve out successful careers north of the border. They were all talented, but Ron was special. He was the leading jockey in Canada for the years 1962 and 63. He had proved that he was the best rider on the Canadian racing scene. Now it was time to make the move south to the states and the big time.

Ron headed for Maryland where he connected with fellow Canadian, trainer Lucien Laurin. Little did these two know that within a decade they would be two of the most famous personalities on the planet. Ron got his first taste of Triple Crown success with Tom Rolfe in 1965. He took the Preakness aboard that year’s three-year-old champion. He also rode the likes of Hall of Fame inductees Northern Dancer, Damascus, Arts and Letters, Fort Marcy, and Shuvee during the decade of the 1960s.

In the early 1970s, lightning would strike for Ron Turcotte with Penny Tweedy and her Meadow Stable’s Riva Ridge. He would give Ron a taste of things to come. The colt won both the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes on the way to a Hall of Fame career. If not for a sloppy track on Preakness day, Riva Ridge could very well have swept the Triple Crown series. 

Waiting in the wings was his stablemate, a chestnut colt who would soon shake the racing world to its core. While Riva Ridge was busy winning Triple Crown races, Secretariat was about to make his debut at Belmont Park on the Fourth of July, 1972. It was at best a lackluster performance. After that, the two-year-old ran the table. He won his next eight races and became the first juvenile runner to be named Horse of the Year since the great Native Dancer in 1953. Ron Turcotte was on cloud numbers one through eight. The best was yet to come. In 1973, he would be sitting alone on cloud number nine. 

Secretariat was already a household name when he prepared for his three-year-old campaign. He started that season with blowout performances in the first two of New York’s Kentucky Derby prep races. He suffered a minor setback finishing third to stablemate Angle Light in the Wood Memorial. Two weeks later, he was on his way to Valhalla when Ron Turcotte guided him to a track record time in “The Run for the Roses.” The Preakness was two weeks later. Another track record was in the cards for the big horse. Next up was the Belmont Stakes. Secretariat annihilated the rest of the field in the mile and a half race. As announcer Chick Anderson called it, “He is moving like a tremendous machine.” At the finish, he was a mind-boggling 31 lengths clear of his nearest competitor. This one too was clocked in record time. Turcotte looking back at Secretariat’s beaten down rivals is an iconic photo in the history of the sport. 

“Bid Red” was hailed as the first Triple Crown Champion in a quarter century. He would go on to thrill fans across the horse racing universe throughout the season of 1973. It would have been fitting for Ron to be aboard the champ when he won his last race, The Canadian International at Woodbine. Unfortunately, he was in the midst of a riding suspension. His fellow Hall of Fame jockey Eddie Maple got the call and was onboard as Secretariat demolished the rest of the field by six and a half lengths. Secretariat’s career was over. He was named Horse of the Year for the second time.

Other Triple Crown champions have come along. The all-time greats Seattle Slew and Affirmed come to mind. Yet, Secretariat stands with Man o’ War and Citation as one of the three greatest horses ever produced on this continent. It is not a stretch to say that when one thinks of Secretariat, the next thought is that of Ron Turcotte. The two will always go hand in hand. 

Unfortunately, the story doesn’t end there. Five years after the celebrated season of Secretariat, Ron was badly injured in a race at Belmont Park. The masterful winner of over three thousand races was relegated to a wheelchair for the rest of his life. 

It is said that one must go into the deepest valleys to climb the highest mountains. This can be stated when looking back at the life of Ron Turcotte. Despite being paralyzed, he never gave up. He spent the rest of his life promoting the Permanently Disabled Jockey Fund as a spokesman for that organization. Rest in Peace to a great gentleman of the turf, Ron Turcotte.