Saratoga Race Course concluded its 4th of July weekend kicking off its 2026 season.  Friday’s opening day card was threatened by the extreme heat and rampant speculation of cancellation, but The New York Racing Association decided to continue as planned. New York State regulations prevent racing when the heat index reaches or exceeds 105 degrees and while it approached that threshold it was never reached and the card proceeded.

Friday Spill

While the heat did not factor much in the day’s racing, the 8th race saw a potentially disastrous spill involving four horses. While the spill was violent, horses and riders came out mostly unscathed, with only rider Javier Castellano injured enough to take off his mounts for the weekend. Of the four fallen horses, only I Love Giraffes suffered an injury that will require her to go to the sidelines for a few months.

The incident involved rider Paco Lopez who is notorious for his aggressive and reckless riding. Lopez riding, I Love Giraffes, repeatedly bumped Pillar of Beauty ridden by Junior Alvarado, from behind, eventually clipping heels with that rival and falling. Lopez’s consistent involvement in dangerous riding incidents needs to be reviewed. He poses a constant threat to horses and riders and reportedly (and not surprisingly) is unwelcome in the Saratoga Jockeys’ room. Racing authorities and/or the Jockeys’ Guild should be proactive in curbing this recklessness. 

Strange Doings at Saratoga

As pointed out repeatedly in this column, strange things happen at Saratoga, particularly early in the meet.  This year proved no exception as a new “strange thing” happened before the running of the Belmont Derby Stakes. Valets mistakenly swapped the saddles of Tyler Gaffalione and Ricardo Santana, correcting the error caused a significant delay in the paddock which West End Kid’s trainer William Walden bitterly stated cost his charge the race saying “he got pretty upset at that and it all spiraled into a short post parade as they pretty much went straight to the gate”

 While this is a new one, it follows a historic pattern of mistakes made early in the meet that negatively impact horsemen and the bettors. 

Dead Heats

Sunday’s card saw not one but two dead heats, most notably, the dead heat for win in the Kelso Stakes between Zulu Kingdom and Mi Bago. While dead heats are not exceedingly rare, this one took an unusually long 15 minutes to be declared. In another unforced error by racing officials, no one alerted track announcer, Frank Mirahmadi, that a dead was declared. When the numbers were put up on the board with the lower numerical number first and before any dead heat symbol was shown, Mirahmadi announced the one horse as the winner causing confusion among fans. The usual protocol is to inform the track announcer that a dead heat has been declared before the numbers go up on the board to avoid this situation. 

This posting of numbers before the dead heat symbol needs to be discontinued. The technology should be readily available to show the dead heat symbol before or immediately upon placing the numbers on the board and the common courtesy of informing the track announcer should always be followed.

Controversial Disqualification

A disqualification in the last race on July 4th has proven unpopular with many seasoned observers.  The winner, Coach of the Year, ridden by Jose Lezcano drew off easily at odds of better than 20-1 only to see the stewards and rival riders announce a review of his actions mid-stretch. To many the move by Lezcano of angling out in the stretch was simply “race riding” but the chaos that ensued among two of his rivals running outside his horse warranted a disqualification in the eyes of the stewards. While I found the decision to be borderline it is unquestionably a departure from the recent similar decisions. Therefore, this may signal a new stricter interpretation of permissible “herding”.  Consistency is desired by all parties and if this is to be the new standard let’s hope it is consistently and uniformly applied over the course of the meeting. 

Leo O’Brien Stakes

The Sunday card was kicked off by the first steeplechase race of the season and the newly minted Leo O’Brien Stakes. The race is named in honor of long-time New York trainer Leo O’Brien whose roots began as a steeplechase rider and trainer in Ireland and the United States and particularly excelling at Saratoga. O’Brien passed away early this year at 85 years old after living a full life that saw him conquer, steeplechase and flat racing both in his native Ireland and his beloved New York. O’Brien was always generous with his time, knowledge and fortune to friends and strangers alike, and his legacy of all that is good about racing is properly marked with a race named in his honor. His family celebrated the event with his daughter Leona giving a wonderful tribute in an interview prior to the race. Kudos to the New York Racing Association for recognizing such an influential figure in New York racing.