The 2021 racing season at Saratoga Race Course begins July 15.

Week 1 will contain 6 stakes races, 5 of them graded, including the Grade 1 Diana for fillies and mares and the historic Sanford for two-year-olds. Traditionally the first weekend of the season focuses on two-year-olds and older grass fillies and mares.

The Diana will highlight Saturday’s card. On the grass at a mile and one-eighth it offers a purse of $500,000. Trainer Chad Brown has won this race the last 5 years and is expected again to have numerous entries. The Diana typically showcases the top grass fillies and mares in the country. Hall of Fame rider John Velazquez has won the Diana a record 6 times, including 2 of the last 3. 

This year the favorite in a small field could be Mean Mary a prolific grass winner trained by H. Graham Motion. Her main competition is expected to be Harvey’s Lil Goil a beautiful gray stakes winning daughter of American Pharoah trained by Bill Mott and ridden by Junior Alvarado. The filly was hampered in her last start when she lost to Mean Mary by a yielding turf course and would prefer a firm course unsoftened by rain. Also running will be a powerful pair of runners from overseas – Althiqa and the aptly named Summer Romance coming off a 1-2 finish in Belmont’s recent Just a Game Stakes. The Godolphin owned pair are trained by Charlie Appleby.  The Chad Brown contingent will be led by Pocket Square who was fifth to the Godolphin pair in her previous race.

Saturday will also feature the Sanford which will be run at 6 furlongs. The Sanford, first run in 1913, has seen Triple Crown winners Secretariat and Affirmed rise to prominence through wins but is most remembered as the only race in which all-time great Man o’War was beaten. Man o’War’s loss to Upset in this race in 1919 helped establish Saratoga Race Course’s reputation as “The Graveyard of Champions”. Man o’War’s loss in the Sanford was his only loss in twenty one starts. In the 1913 Sanford Man o’War was unprepared for the start and then was the victim of a terrible ride by his jockey Johnny Loftus. That he almost won the race was actually enhanced his already formidable reputation.

This year’s Sanford is expected to be the second start for Mike Repole’s Wit. Wit was an impressive winner for trainer Todd Pletcher (who will be inducted into the Racing Hall of Fame in August) in his first start on the Belmont under card overcoming a slow start to win going away.

Opening Day Thursday July 15 will feature two Grade III sprints – The Quick Call for three-year-olds on the grass at 5 ½ furlong and the Schuylerville for two-year-old fillies at 6 furlongs. 

The Quick Call is named for a durable gelding who started 86 times and ran at Saratoga each year from 1986 – 1991. Quick Call’s victories included the Forego Handicap in 1988 and 1989, just missing a third consecutive win of the Forego in 1990—losing by a nose. Quick Call lived to the extended age of 35 and was honored by having his ashes buried on the Saratoga Race Course grounds at Clare Court a training track on the grounds. A quick competitive field is expected.

The Schuylerville is an opportunity for two-year-old fillies to gain the coveted stakes race “black type” which will enhance their broodmare prospects and value. Trainers Todd Pletcher and d. Wayne Lucas have each won the race 6 times. The Schuylerville is the traditional stakes race on opening day and like the Diana jockey John Velazquez has had the most wins by a rider with 5. Happy Soul, a daughter of Runhappy trained by former rider Wesley Ward is expected to be the favorite off her two recent wins at Belmont Park.

Friday’s stakes race is the Forbidden Apple at one mile on the grass. The race was not run last year and has only been run at Saratoga in 2019. 

Sunday sees the fourth straight day of stakes action with the Coronation Cup on the grass at 5 ½ furlongs for three-year-old fillies.

If you were raised here or have spent time in Saratoga during racing season, chances are that you know the jingle mentioned in the above title. The words have a special meaning to fans throughout the horse racing universe. Since its inception in 1863, Saratoga has strived to present “The finest racing in the world.” 

The track has played host to a myriad of the greatest horses that ever graced the American Turf. Man O’ War, Secretariat, Buckpasser, Kelso, American Pharaoh and so many enormously talented thoroughbred champions have thrilled generations of fans who have made their way to this Mecca of Racing. 

A once-in-a-lifetime earthshaking event, the onset of Covid-19, in effect derailed the entire sports world last year. Major League Baseball teams played their games in front of cardboard cutouts. Professional basketball and the NFL faced similar constraints. Horse racing was no exception to the new covid rules. There would be racing at Saratoga for wagering purposes only. The racing meet technically speaking took place at the Spa. Fans however would not be admitted to the track. As for its impact on the city, it may as well have been run on another continent. Saratoga like so much of America was a ghost town. The normally thriving hotels saw empty rooms and desolated parking lots. Restaurant owners were mostly relegated with to go orders. Despair and hopelessness became the norm. Then American ingenuity took command of the situation. It came in the way of a government-led coalition with pharmaceutical companies asked to do the impossible. In less than a year a miracle took place. A highly effective vaccine was created. Within six months it had brought the dreaded Covid to its knees. The sporting world along with the rest of society’s norms are thriving again. Which means as the following subtitle suggests.

All ROADS LEAD TO SARATOGA

The festivities are about to begin. Mark it on your calendar, Thursday, July 15, 2021. At 11 in the morning, the gates of the ancient racecourse will open again and the two-year hiatus will be over. Saratoga is primed for a season to topple all prior records. If history has taught us anything, it does repeat itself. 1946 was the last time the track reopened to the public in the post World War Two era. Opening day the fans came out in droves to welcome back the Grand Dame of American racing. Over 15,000 fans converged on the grounds. It was in that timeframe a massive crowd attended a weekday racing card. 

Changing times have made Saratoga more accessible with the advent of modern transportation, superior accommodations, and fabulous restaurants. This along with a city filled with wonders that have similarities to some of Europe’s great capitols has made Saratoga “The Summer Place To Be.” 

A walk down Broadway has the feel of the world’s greatest boulevard, the Champs Elysee. With it’s outdoor dining, the street musicians, and the huge crowds that are drawn here, one can sense the experience of Paris on a warm summer night. Close by is one of Saratoga’s more beautiful settings. Congress Park is a marvel of architecture and landscaping. It has an uncanny resemblance to Rome’s fabulous public grounds, the Villa Borghese. A stroll through the park leads to Union Avenue. With its staid mansions and wide expanse, it is the perfect setting leading to the racetrack entrance. 

Now it’s time for what Saratoga is famous for, horse racing on a grand scale. It’s opening day and the old stands will overflow with a crowd that is as diverse as the sporting world can offer. The paddock area will be filled with fans that enjoy the outdoor picnic tables. The clubhouse restaurants will be alive with those who appreciate a more traditional approach to a day at the races. The box seat area will play host to the dignitaries and hierarchy of the racing world. Here you can feel history. The great purveyors of the American Turf were at home here. The Whitneys, Vanderbilt and the Wideners once graced these same box seats during the glory years of the sport. The options don’t end there. Thousands of reserved seats are available for those who appreciate a fine view of the races in a relaxed atmosphere. Then there is the backbone of the racing game, the true horseplayer. He doesn’t care if he sits or stands. He’s not at the track for the food or the sightseeing. He comes from cities and towns across the country to try his luck at the Spa. This is the guy that goes out after the races, win or lose, has a bite to eat and a couple of drinks. He knows the score and won’t disappoint when it comes time to leave the tip. 

Expect to see them all this coming Thursday. The thrills begin at 1 p.m. It is now post time. The massive crowd awaits. The tension builds. The bell rings. The starting gate opens. And they’re off at Saratoga…

Since 1984 the thoroughbred racing world has had its own end-of-the-year championship races.

First dubbed the Breeders’ Cup and then later changed to Breeders’ Cup World Championship, the two-day event to be run on Friday, November 6 and Saturday, November 7 consists of 14 races in numerous categories for total purses of $31 million. The large purses offered lure the best horses from both the United States and abroad to determine champion status at year end.

The races are conducted in moving locations with this years’ renewal being held at Keeneland Race Course, without fans due to Covid-19 concerns, in the blue grass of Lexington Kentucky ­— the heart of thoroughbred breeding country. The races were designed to give thoroughbred racing a crowning year-end event similar to the Super Bowl, World Series or NBA or NHL playoffs. Due to the time of year and weather concerns Saratoga Race Course has yet to host the event but each year horses that raced here in Saratoga compete in these races.

This year’ renewal has a particular Saratoga influence as locally-owned Tiz The Law, this year’s Belmont Stakes and Travers Stakes winner, will be competing in the Breeder’s Cup Classic for a purse of $6 million with the victor likely to garner Horse of The Year honors.  Run at the same mile and one-quarter classic distance as the Travers Stakes, this will mark the first time Tiz The Law has competed against older horses rather than the three-year-old crop he has exclusively faced this year. Typically, three-year-old thoroughbreds mature enough by the fall of their three-year-old year to compete against the older stronger horses and have fared well in this race, including winning last year’s running by Vino Rosso. 

Owned by a group of Saratoga locals led by Jack Knowlton under the same Sackatoga Stables name that owned 2003 Kentucky Derby winner Funnycide, Tiz The Law was born in New York at Sequel Farm in Hudson, New York rather than in the lush blue grass of Kentucky on March 19, (St. Joseph’s Day) 2017.  After spending the obligatory 90 days in New York to qualify as a New York bred for racing purposes he went to Kentucky to grow and develop. Tiz The Law returned to New York in August 2018 where he was sold at auction to the Sackatoga group at the Fasig-Tipton sales here in Saratoga for $110,000.

Tiz The Law won the two big races run in New York for three-year-olds the Belmont and Travers putting him in contention for both three-year-old of the year and Horse of the Year honors. His performance in Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup Classic will determine those titles. As a well-bred classic winner, he most certainly will be a stallion prospect when his racing days are concluded. 

Tiz the Law is trained by Barclay Tagg and ridden by Manny Franco. He is projected to be among the middle betting choices in the race behind betting favorite behind the Bob Baffert trained entries – Improbable, Maximum Security and Authentic.

Another Saratoga race meeting, albeit a strange one, has recently ended and despite the lack of on track fans, handicappers scanned past performances and used handicapping tools new and old to discern winners and value. While the tools have been greatly expanded over the years with easy access to video replay and ever more sophisticated speed and pace figures, the mission remains the same – pick winners. Any handicapper will tell you how frustrating the chase can be but also how rewarding.

This article is meant to explore how and why the Saratoga race meet is different than most. I like to say the race meeting is about humans not horses. Saratoga is a high-profile niche meet that holds historical and aesthetic significance beyond dollars. Often when dollars and cents are in play those off the track often exceed those that are earned on the track. For that reason there is an additional element that is hard to quantify in a pace figure or on paper – it is human emotion and desire. 

Those of us who have owned or trained horses will tell you how difficult it is to win a race and that there are a million ways to lose a race. Each trip to the Winner’s Circle should be enjoyed as the accomplishment it is regardless of the time of year or conditions under which it occurs but human nature being what it is it simply is not. Due to its high profile a win at Saratoga simply has a high value that exceeds its cost.

Notably in normal years, a splashy performance by a runner at Saratoga during sales week can slingshot its sire to unexpected levels in that week’s select sales. An eye-popping first time starter by a new sire is immeasurably more valuable sales week than it is the rest of the year and this is not lost on the human connections. It is not a coincidence that two year maiden special weights are full in the days preceding the yearling sales and it is not uncommon for owners to save well-meant first time starters for that week in hopes of sparking interest in
the bloodlines.

These emotional and less obvious reasons make winning at Saratoga more rewarding to certain connections than winning elsewhere – even if the overall annual dollars earned are fewer by waiting for the spa meet.

No discussion of aiming for Saratoga would be complete without a discussion of one of the grandest Saratoga-aimers of all-time- G.P. Odom. George Odom known as Major or Maje since he was a child was born in 1906 and was winning races at Saratoga until 1987. From a racing family (his father was a jockey and trainer, and part of the 1955 inaugural class of inductees to the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame) he went to Columbia University and then to work on Wall Street in 1930.  He was quoted as saying “Bad timing. People were jumping out of windows so fast you had to watch out or they’d fall on you and crush you. Then in 1932, President Roosevelt declared the bank holiday. Well, I went to the races for the holiday and stayed there.”

Maje Odom loved to cash a bet and it has been recalled that he won so much money on his 1938 Belmont Stakes winner – Pasteurize – surviving a foul claim at a plush 8-1 in a six horse field – that he bought an airplane! When later in his career he ceased training a public stable he settled into training primarily for he and his wife Mary and aimed for Saratoga. Each year he would start in March or April on the farm, have the requisite public works at Delaware Park in the months leading to Saratoga and head to the spa ready for bear.  He won a race at Saratoga nearly every year until his final starter Waggley won on August 23, 1987. They were always well-meant and fast, and many were first time starters or off a lay-off. More often than not they scored as planned.  To those who remembered from year to year it was a ritual and meant all was right with the world when one of his horses was well-bet and ran to it at Saratoga. Those that didn’t remember got to tear up tickets.

Today trainer statistics are readily available and Maje Odom’s 30% winning percentage would be common knowledge. But what about the less obvious owner statistics? We all know of the owners who actively seek the owner title and run horses every day in all sorts of spots to garner wins.  They command most of the attention but what is more difficult to discern are the connections who aim for this meet but have limited starters.

Below is my list of owners who tend to run better at Saratoga than elsewhere who even in this very odd year showed peak performance in Saratoga. Mark them for next year as well. Including their horses even when conventional handicapping tools and methods don’t point to them will provide you with an opportunity to have a few hidden winners and even more live competitors at compelling prices.

Trainers to watch:
• James Bond – that’s worth repeating James Bond. A locally based family operation that absolutely excels at Saratoga.
• David Donk – the phrase “Honk if you like Donk” will echo in your head as one long priced winner after anther hits the wire first.
• Roy S. Lerman – very few runners, very long prices but springs in the money finishes each year

Owners to watch include:
• Peter J. Callahan • William L. Clifton, Jr.
• Roy S. Lerman • Roddy J. Valente
• Patricia Generazio • Alex G. Campbell, Jr.

Each of these owners, for varying reasons, finds the added excitement and fun that a win at Saratoga brings worth striving for all year. What is more important is that each of them has proven they know how to target Saratoga successfully. Scanning the owner listings each morning for these owners will yield surprising results.

Saratoga racing – it’s as much about people as it is about horses.

William G. Gotimer, Jr. is a Saratoga resident and life-long racing fan and owner. He is a practicing attorney specializing in corporate and business transactions with numerous racing participants as clients. He may be reached at wgotimer@verizon.net

SARATOGA SPRINGS — The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) successfully concluded its 2020 summer meet at Saratoga Race Course without interruption and with all-sources handle topping $700 million for the second consecutive year. 

Highlighted by Tiz the Law’s dominant performance in winning the 151st running of the Grade 1, $1 million Runhappy Travers, the meet was conducted without spectators and with only a limited number of essential personnel, horsemen and owners on-site due to the continued impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

All-sources handle for the 2020 summer meet totaled $702,535,468 compared to $705,343,949 wagered from all sources on Saratoga in 2019.

Average daily handle for the 40-day meet was $17,563,387. The 2019 meet, which was run across 39 days due to the cancellation of a full card due to weather, generated average daily handle of $18,085,742.

Pari-mutuel wagering funds the majority of the NYRA purse account, which is awarded to horsemen and, in turn, benefits hundreds of small businesses operating at NYRA tracks and others dependent on the thoroughbred racing industry.

While the 2020 Saratoga meet was a success in many ways, it will most be remembered for the absence of our passionate fans and the irreplaceable energy that they bring to Saratoga each summer. Despite not being able to attend in person, horseplayers watched and wagered with tremendous enthusiasm, and we thank them for their continued support,” said NYRA President & CEO Dave O’Rourke. “We would also like to thank city and county leaders for their efforts in working with us to ensure the safety and well-being of all participants, and the Saratoga community for welcoming us without reservation.” 

A total of 409 races were run this summer including 226 on dirt and 183 on the turf. 32 races were taken off the turf due to weather. Average field size over the 409 races was 7.4. This compares to 403 total races run in 2019, including 225 on dirt and 178 on turf. 38 were taken off the turf due to weather. Average field size in 2019 was 7.9.

New York state currently requires all racetracks to operate without spectators in attendance to combat the spread of COVID-19. 

As the Saratoga Race Course season ends its 2020 season, James W. Ferraro is also wrapping up his 30th year as a trainer at the track. While he may not be a household name to current horse racing fans, he does come from a unique horse racing background that does merit some attention. 

His father – James Ferraro – was a trainer and later a bloodstock agent, as well as a close friend to late Hall of Fame trainer H. Allen Jerkens, often known as “The Chief.” Because of that, the younger Ferraro had good insight on training horses.

“My father and him were good friends,” he said. “Some of my best memories are going out to dinner with them and listen to them talk about training philosophies, taking care of horses, how to handle certain problems, and what to do about them.” 

After spending his teenage years by helping his father train horses, Ferraro eventually became a stablehand for Jerkens from 1974-1977. At that point, “The Chief” thought it was time for Ferraro to train horses on his own.

“He said get out there and learn now,” Ferraro said. “His theory was go out there and start training because you are going to make the same mistakes now that you will also make five years from now.  I learned that from both my father and the Chief. I knew I could always go back to them for advice.” 

As soon as he got his trainer’s license, Ferraro saddled his first winner with a maiden claimer coincidently named Talking Partner on Dec. 20, 1977 at Aqueduct, which has been part of his home base for over three decades.

Ferraro’s thought of coming to Saratoga didn’t happen until three years later after his first winner. When Ferraro came to Saratoga, he made it worth the trip with just two horses: Lorine who finished first and second in two claiming races, and Table for John, who was second twice in an allowance race. 

While Ferraro continued to train horses throughout the 1980s, his father stopped training horses to become a bloodstock agent.

It has been reported that his father was the one who helped Sam Rubin purchase the great Hall of Fame gelding John Henry for $25,000. Later, John Henry earned several accolades that include becoming the oldest horse to win the Eclipse Award for Horse and a Grade 1 race at the age of 9 in 1984 after earning the same honor in 1981.

Over the years, the younger Ferraro has posted a respectable career with more than 300 winners and earnings over $11 million from horses that include New York-bred stakes-winning mares Double Dee’s, Board Elligible and Aunt Babe. However, there is still a mare who has Ferraro’s memory: Courageous Karen, whose 2-of-10 career wins came at Saratoga.

Even though she never won a stakes race, Courageous Karen was a versatile mare on both turf and off track. In fact, Ferraro recalls one moment at Saratoga where she dominated an off-the-turf event in 1988. 

“We had shipped up here a day before the race, which was supposed to be on the turf,” Ferraro said. “That night, it started downpouring. That filly won on the turf, but she loved the mud, too. Once that race came off the turf, she took off and won. I still remember that race well.” 

Today at 64-years-old, Ferraro believes his “old school” style of training is still effective for his stable, just as he learned from his father and “The Chief.” However, he doesn’t dismiss some of today’s technology and science that can benefit horses.

“That was definitely old school then with the way they took care of problems with the horses,” Ferraro said about their approach to training horses. “Years ago, you were able to give horses time. You didn’t necessarily rely so much on the veterinarians. I’m not closed-minded. I try to mix it up a little bit. You have to still use technology and modern medications.”

Before the COVID-19 pandemic in mid-March that halted New York racing, it seemed like things were moving forward for Ferraro as his horses found the Winner’s Circle at Aqueduct five times while finishing in-the-money 10 other times. However, with New York racing not resuming until the beginning of June at Belmont, some of his horses were kept on idle. 

“Some of my horses were taken out of training and they lost all of that conditioning,” he said. “All we did was hand-walk them for 45 days. That’s kind of frustrating because you see the track right there and you are losing conditioning every day.”

Now that racing has resumed, Ferraro’s horses have gotten back into shape with two of them winning near the end of the Belmont meet and Bank Gala winning her first career race halfway through the Saratoga meet. 

“We had a slow start at Belmont, then we picked up a couple of wins during the last week,” Ferraro said. “Saratoga is nearly impossible to win up here, especially with small stables.”

As challenging as it may be to compete at Saratoga, Ferraro, who is on multiple committees for the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association that include backstretch and safety, as well as a representative for the trainers, still enjoys the scene and people around the Saratoga backstretch. 

“Saratoga is fantastic,” he said. “A lot of people say the same thing. It’s that banter. Even though we are very competitive, we are close-knit. We rekindle friendships. It’s that comradery.”

It is not often that trainers handle both harness and Thoroughbred horses. In fact, it is challenging for a lot of horsemen and horsewomen to make that transition of working with both types of equine athletes.

For nearly 40 years, Francis Raia II has made a career of training both harness and Thoroughbreds, well as driving the trotters and pacers at various tracks.

One of those moments occurred Aug. 18 when Raia was in the sulky – the two-wheeled cart – driving T’s Electric at Saratoga Gaming and Casino. Within the next 24 hours, he was hoping to saddle his 4-year-old filly homebred Renninas Rose at Saratoga Race Course.

However, a small physical setback for Renninas Rose forced Raia to scratch from the last race on Aug. 19. That would have been his first Thoroughbred runner since December 2018 and his first Saratoga in nearly two years.

“I have no luck,” Raia said while shaking off the disappointment. “I would get a horse ready for a race. I would train them. I would have a rider on them once a week, then something would happen.”

While it can be frustrating for the 64-year-old Raia from Mechanicville, he has learned how to manage these situations based on his experience and extensive family background in both Thoroughbred and harness racing.

His 90-year-old father, Francis Raia Sr., played an integral part by purchasing a 20-acre farm with a third-mile track in Tolland, Conn.

At the farm, Raia learned how to jog harness horses at nine years old. A year later, his father brought him to Foxboro Raceway for a summer job through driver Irving Foster by caring for four horses at $5 a day.

During the summer when he was 14, Raia worked at Belmont Park for his idol Phil Horn Jr. before coming to Saratoga where they were stabled on Clare Court. In the evenings, Raia crossed Nelson Avenue to the harness track to watch the races.

While Raia was learning how to care for and handle horses, he really wanted to be a jockey. His desire of becoming a rider stemmed from his uncle John Raia, who was a successful jockey in New York and Florida, and at one time, he rode the 1958 juvenile filly champion Quill early in her career. 

Approaching his last year at Tolland High School, Raia needed just two credits to complete his high school diploma. Because he had an opportunity to ride in Florida, Raia made a proposal to the superintendent that he could complete the all of the required classwork outside of school.

“I told the superintendent that I had a shot to ride and wanted to go now,” Raia said. “He let me do it as long as I got the work done. I went back to high school and graduated with my class and I never went back.”

Once the superintendent agreed on the proposal, Raia went to Calder to gallop horses for Nick Gianos Jr. in 1975. At that point, his uncle John Raia had stopped riding, but he was also getting other riders from Hialeah Park.

“There were riders who came from Hialeah to work horses at Calder,” Raia said. “My uncle picked me up in the morning to gallop horses. I would sit on horses 10 a day for time.”

While Raia was learning how to ride through galloping horses, his dream of becoming a jockey started fading because of his growing body.

“I was close to getting my license of being a jockey at Calder, but I was too heavy,” he said.

Rather than staying in Florida, Raia came back to the northeast and worked for the late veterinarian Dr. Albert “Doc” Grass of West Brattleboro Harness, was training and driving horses at Saratoga, Vermont and New Hampshire, in fall of 1976.

During his time with Grass, Raia became familiar with the northeast harness circuit and eventually made his own career in training and driving horses going into the 1980s for the next two decades between Saratoga and Foxboro.

Raia had good horses, including Mountain Jester who once held the Saratoga Raceway record for a gelding before being retired with 14 honors in 1989. However, he knew that ride could not last forever since many of his owners passed away and it became a challenge finding new owners. 

 “I had as much as 30 heads where I would drive 5-6 races a night for about 20 years,” Raia said. “I was doing good, but all of my owners had passed away. It’s hard to replace them.”

By 1997, along with training and driving Standardbreds, Raia went back to working with Thoroughbreds across the street with his first horse being Jr. Lord, a gelding who was easily outrun at Saratoga and Belmont. After purchasing Jr. Lord for owner Helen Casson, Raia sent the horse to Finger Lakes under the guidance of Robert Attanasio where the gelding won his only race.

Over the last 23 years, Raia has picked up Thoroughbred winners at small circuit tracks like Finger Lakes and Northampton Fair. One of his multi-winners was Shrewd, a horse he bought at Finger Lakes before owner Nick Barone brought the horse

With very little success from Shrewd competing in West Virginia, Raia convinced Barone to bring the roan gelding back to his barn. After working with Shrewd for two months, Raia confidently brought him to Northampton where he won two races with his first one by a nine-length margin.

“He was taken from me and brought to Mountaineer,” Raia said. “I told him to bring him back. I know what I have to do for the horse. When I brought him to Northampton, I told the owners that we are going to win for fun and they laughed at me. He won by the length of the stretch.”

Today, Raia is working with a small stable of his filly Renninas Rose and three Standardbreds – his “old class horse” T’s Electric, stakes-placing Fifth Son and hopeful pacer Jack Rock. Like many owners and trainers, as well as drivers, Raia is still chasing the dream after four decades.

“It’s the dream,” he said. “I could never let go of the dream. I’m always waiting to get the big one.”

Through diligence, tryouts, and education, Anthony Affruniti has moved from the ice rink to the top of the racetrack – literally.

The 45-year-old Affruniti is in his second year as the official timer and photo finish camera operator for American Teletimer that covers Saratoga Race Course, Belmont Park and Aqueduct.

While it may look easy to time a race and take a picture of the horses passing the finish line, Affrunti vouches there is a lot more to the job that includes knowing the pole markers for fractional times of each race and making sure the beam signals and camera are ready when the horses cross that mark.

“There is a lot of pressure to be on point,” he said. “There are ways to double check everything. I have to be sure I’m at the right course, the backup camera is working and in focus, and I have the right time on the timer.”

Affrunti has always been involved in some aspect of horse racing as a fan and employee since his years at Garden City High School when his uncle, who owned both harness horses and Thoroughbreds, suggested he should work for the late Dominic Galluscio in 1992.

Every weekend for $50, Affrunti learned how to walk horses and work around the shed row. Perhaps one of the challenging experiences for him as a hotwalker was handling slow horses, in particular a claiming gelding named Mapale.

“Mapale was so slow,” he said. “It took me 30 minutes to walk him once around the shed row because he walked so slow, but I wanted to learn how to walk horses. Eventually, Galluscio gave me more horses to walk, then then I started raking the shed row.”

Following the short experience with Galluscio, Affrunti worked for trainer Robert Klesaris for the next 1½ years that included a 5:30 a.m. start time during the winter. Affruniti also played high school hockey through his senior year until he broke his ankle during a game in January 1993 that sidelined him in the barn.

“I walked about six horses a day,” he said. “Then, I would be hosing water on the horse. I remember one brutal winter when it was 12 degrees and I was standing there with a hose for 45 minutes. Everything was a learning experience. My parents had no idea about what they had sent me to do. I have learned a lot working back there.”

For his first two years at C.W. Post, Affrunti still went to Aqueduct and Belmont as a fan. However, it wasn’t until Fall 2001 when he transferred to St. John’s University to eventually earn his bachelor’s degree in sports management.

Heading into senior year at St. John’s, Affrunti also returned to work at the racetrack. This time, he was an intern for the New York Racing Association’s communications office where he wrote daily backstretch notes, feature race previews and recap stories during the Saratoga meet for two seasons.

About halfway through Affrunti’s second season at Saratoga, writer and handicapper Ed Fontaine informed him about a position at the New York Post where he would handle the horse racing entries and results on the pages. However, Affrunti would have to wait until the end of the meet to “try out” for the position.

Also going into that fall, Affrunti made the commitment of coaching hockey at Killenberg High School in Uniondale and other jobs included working on an “overnight” video project featuring former New York Islander center Alexei Yashin and hockey historian and announcer Stan Fischler on how to play hockey.

With that video project starting at 9 p.m. for the next 12 hours, Affrunti had very little time – and barely any sleep – to go home to shower, then get to Manhattan in the early afternoon for the newspaper tryout.

“At one point when I was sitting at the computer, I caught myself dozing off. I couldn’t believe I was about to fall asleep during my tryout,” he said. “I came back the next day and Friday. On Monday, I got the job.”

For the next eight years, Affrunti went from typing and paginating horse racing entries and results to becoming one of the New York Post’s handicappers. As technology quickly paginated information, the New York Post cut 13 positions, including Affrunti, Fontaine and John DaSilva – the day before the 2013 Belmont Stakes that silenced the press box.

“I saw it coming,” he said. “After being told that, we went to Belmont. Everyone knew it in the press box. Everyone was mumbling and whispering. It got dead quiet. Everyone got nervous.”

That layoff did not discourage Affunti as he became a freelance writer for NYRA, co-host for the Horse Racing Radio Network, and even a Zamboni driver and ice maintenance manager for the New York Islanders. Then, his next opportunity arrived when Morehouse retired after four decades of being the timer and camera operator for Teletimer.

“Don asked me if I was interested in the job and he could train me,” Affrunti said. “He said I had been around long enough to know everything about racing. I started training 1-2 times a week at Aqueduct and Belmont. He eventually took off one day and I did it on my own. It was a test run and everything went fine.”

Affrunti officially took over in November 2018. Besides the pressure of accuracy, there is also the importance of being at the track every day, especially since he doesn’t have a backup or replacement.

“I think I have taken five days off,” he said. “If something happens to me, there is no one who can time the races.”

Affrunti also still finds time to handicap races for the Albany Times Union. Along with selecting horses, he also provides entertaining banter at Tim Wilkin, who also returns the humor by often calling Affrunti as “Herbie.”

Since walking horses nearly 30 years ago, as well as attending and working the 30 consecutive Belmont Stakes races that include Triple Crown winners American Pharaoh and Justify, Affrunti believes he has made it to the top — literally.

“I’ve worked the backstretch during the Belmont,” he said. “I worked for the press. I’ve gotten quotes after the race for the press office. Here I am, all the way up at the top.”

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Tiz the Law, owned by Sackatoga Stables won this years G1 Runhappy Travers Stakes on Aug. 8.

This beautiful day in Saratoga was only matched in the quality of racing, as Tiz the Law managed to prove that he was the dominant racer after his crushing performance in the Travers. After Tiz the Law’s strong performance in the Belemont Stakes on June 20, he was coming in as the odds favorite (1/2) to win the Travers. 

Trainer, Barclay Tagg, felt confident in his horse after seeing his morning training, afterwards saying to saying the NYRA staff, “He looks fine… I was very pleased with the way he ran. He did everything a good horse ought to do and did it perfectly.”

Since becoming the first New York-bred horse to win the Belmont stakes in 138 years, Tiz the law also became the first to win the Travers since 1992.

Tagg was elated to win the Travers in his second try, his first being in 2008 with Tale of Ekati. He had this to say about his victory afterwards, “I’ve been doing this a long time and I’ve always wanted to win the Travers. This has been in my head my whole life. And now it happened so it couldn’t be better… You always have some doubt because many different things can happen. That’s always in the back of your mind, but I was very confident in the horse.” 

The rest of the staff at Sacktoga Stables was thrilled with the victory too. Operation Manager, Jack Knowlton, was pleased after seeing his horse race, and even more thrilled at the prospect of racing in the Kentucky Derby. 

When asked about his thoughts on the victory, Knowlton replied happily, “It’s just so exciting to be in the race and to be 1-2, there’s a lot of pressure. We had well-wishers from everywhere. We saw a performance today that just blows me away. We know we had a nice horse. We thought we had the best horse. To do what he did today, we’re looking forward to going to Kentucky.”

Aside from the Travers, the Ballerina and Longines Test were the other Grade 1 races featured on Saturday’s card. The Serengeti Empress managed to turn things around in this race after a slew of second place finishes in previous races this year. Jockey, Luis Saez, managed to get Serengeti Empress out to an early lead and was able to hold off the pursuers in the mile and an eight-long race.

In the Longies Test, Gamine managed to show her brilliance by getting off to an early lead and winning the $300,000 stakes. Trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, Jockey, John Velazquez was thrilled to be in the saddle of Gamine. 

“Obviously, she’s very good. You love to be on these kinds of horses. I have to thank Bob and the owners for the opportunity. Bob said she breaks well and to kind of let her do her thing. If another horse wants to go too fast, we just let her sit second and she’ll be fine sitting second. But she broke so good and the other horse kind of stayed right next to me and didn’t press the pace very much, so I just kind of let her do what she wanted to do the first quarter-mile. Once we got to the turn, I let her get into the turn and she got really comfortable and really smooth and got away from the other horse and kept going.”

Moving into the fifth week of racing, the Saratoga Derby Invitational, and the G1 Alabama highlight Saturday’s card, with the Saratoga Oaks Invitational being the main attraction for Sunday’s card. Be sure not to miss out on any of the racing this season by either streaming the race online, listening in through radio, or catching a live TV Broadcast. For the full racing schedule and more information on broadcast times, check out the NYRA website at nyra.com/saratoga. Updated daily, you can find all the race details and stats to stay in the know for this unique season at Saratoga.

Just over 10 years ago, Edmund Davis worked at Chipotle during his senior year at Saratoga Springs High School when his father – the well-known retired jockey, Robbie Davis, bought New York-bred Sandyinthesun for $700.

The emerging young adult, who preferred working as an assistant manager while finishing his last year as a high school wrestler, wasn’t that interested in the horse, even though his father encouraged him to come to the barn.

A couple of years later during a Christmas dinner, Edmund asked his father about how much that horse had made. With a chuckle from his sister Jacqueline, his father told him it was over $74,000 through two years of racing.

That’s when Edmund decided to leave the Chipotle kitchen for a career in the horse racing industry. Over the last eight years through the help of his father and others, Edmund has learned about riding horses and becoming a horseman.

Now, Edmund is in his second year of being a trainer with a small, but growing stable of 10 horses, which includes his first Saratoga winner Kinky Sox on July 24.

“It’s an all-around good feeling,” Edmund said. “I took control of the reigns more than last year. It’s all about being logical and how you are training them. It’s going well. I’m getting a little attention. I am really happy about that and the support that I have received.”

One of the things that Robbie has instilled in all six of his children, especially Dylan and Jacqueline who are jockeys at their respective Saratoga and Penn National tracks, as well as Edmund, is the three “Ds:” desire, dedication, and the discipline.

“None of them work without the other,” Robbie said. “If you don’t have the desire, you don’t have the dedication and discipline. I remind them to not get too complacent.”

At 60, Robbie is still resilient as a trainer and exercise rider for trainers that include former Eclipse Apprentice Jockey Champion Wesley Ward, who often got a car ride from Robbie because he was too young to drive when they were riding at Belmont, Aqueduct, and the Meadowlands in 1984.

Robbie believes those three Ds have been an attribute to his remarkable riding career of over 3,300 winners for earnings more than $115.7 million. He also led the jockey colony in stakes wins with six during the 1989 Del Mar meet for Hall of Fame trainers that included Charles Whittingham, Bobby Frankel and Richard Mandella.

At the same time, those three Ds have helped Robbie and his family through challenging moments at both the personal and professional level, even after his retirement and more recently when his wife Marguerite was kicked in the ribs by Dancers for Token, who got skittish from a loose horse on the pony track just before the start of the Belmont meet. A day after that incident, Dancers for Token won his first career race.

“When a horse gets spooked, anything can happen,” Robbie said. “He jumped sideways and caught her on the side and cracked a couple of ribs. She recovered well. She was out for about three weeks, then she came back. She’s still a little tender, but she’s tough. In this business, you have to be Teflon.”

One thing that is tough for Robbie, as well as many horsemen on the backstretch, is the quiet Saratoga Race Course scene in the morning and afternoon as a result of COVID-19 pandemic. For Robbie, this year’s meet feels like an episode from the “Twilight Zone.”

“I feel like I am in the Twilight Zone,” he said. “There is not much traffic. When I get on the track, there is no one around. I ask myself, ‘What’s going on? Can someone wake me up? I’m having a bad dream.’ It’s not Saratoga. It’s hard to get used to. Half of the fun was the crowd and the energy around them. That’s what moves the horses. That’s what moves the riders.”

While the track may not have that energetic atmosphere this season, that has not stopped Robbie and Edmund being motivated for their horses and the sport. The near 29-year-old Edmund has a pulse on all of his horses from riding them in the morning, saddling them in the afternoon, and checking on them in the evening.

“You really have to pay attention,” he said. “I gallop all of my horses. I have a training chart for all of them. I’ll write things down, but when I hit the track, I could change it based on how the horse is feeling that day. I think that is an advantage for me.”

Edmund admitted that he initially lacked confidence around horses and his riding ability until his father provided him knowledge on horses and riding them.

“My dad has taught me so much about horses from looking at the feet to riding them,” Edmund said. “When I started, I wasn’t that confident of an exercise rider. I didn’t feel that I was that good. After watching him ride, I would be in awe. The way he has taught me to ride a horse has been a help to my business.”

Robbie also convinced Edmund to start working with James Jerkens. Through a near three-year internship-like experience from Jerkens, Edmund got to work with stakes winners that included Preservationist, Shaman Ghost and Holy Helena.

“He is a true horseman,” Edmund said about Jerkens. “I wanted to learn and I wanted to be there in the shed row, the paddock, and on the track. It got to the point where I learned a lot and my confidence was up.”

Now that Edmund’s confidence is up, Robbie believes his son, who went from being a lightweight wrestler who competed well in the Section II tournament during his high school career, does have the potential of being a good horseman.

“He’s going to have a future. He’s going to be good,” Robbie said. “It’s fun to see him grow. I’m proud of him.”