Saratoga Race Course Kicks Into Gear
The Saratoga meeting began operating at full speed last week with an assist from beautiful weather. So far, the racing has been competitive with good sized fields. The crowds have increased as the meet moves closer to its traditional (recent traditional) mid-July opening.
The opening day stories have been focused mostly on riders and trainers rather than horses.
Trainers
The variety in winning trainers has been astounding. In an age where super-trainers dominate most race meets, this one has been a refreshing exception. Of the first 69 races run this year 46 separate trainers have found the winner’s circle. That variety harkens back to a time when barns were smaller and winning one or two races could make your season. The somewhat mean practice of focusing later in the meet on trainers who had yet to “get off the duck” (have a winner) will be more difficult this year with so many trainers having won a race so early in the meet.
One trainer who has excelled early in an unusual fashion is Horatio de Paz. De Paz scored with first time starting two-year-olds on consecutive days at big prices. Winning first time for DePaz (other than with horses owned by Barry K. Schwartz) is out of character and the tote board reflected that. Both won in impressive fashion.
Trainer Mike Maker continued his knack for claiming horses and turning them into winners “going long on the grass” by doing so twice this week. Both Maker winners had interesting jockey connections with Sunday’s winner being the first winner for champion rider Irad Ortiz, Jr. who has had a belated return to Saratoga and the other – Ole Crazy Bone – surviving an unusual mistake by jockey Flavien Prat mistaking the finish line in the Bowling Green Stakes leading to a desperately tight nose victory.
Castellano Seeking Return
The spill on opening day had some developments this week as jockey Paco Lopez was suspended 30 days for reckless riding (he has appealed). His mount – I Love Giraffes – suffered a fractured hip and will be sidelined for an extended period and her return to racing in question. Hall of Fame rider Javier Castellano, who was immediately thought suffered only minor injuries, has yet to return and will be out another week or two with back soreness. When speaking with Castellano on Sunday, he told me “This week I have had significant improvement in my movement and my mobility. I’m trying everything that I can to get back as soon as possible! I’m hopeful that it won’t be too much longer.”
Jockey Action
Controversy ensued Sunday just prior to the 4th Race, which was scheduled for two-year-olds on the grass at a flat mile. The race was to begin the Pick-6 with a large carryover.
The configuration of the grass courses at Saratoga presents some distance limitations with distances between 5 1/2 furlongs and a mile being unavailable. The mile distance has a very short run up to the first turn and accordingly has been considered inappropriate for two-year-olds due to their inexperience. Grass races for the babies have either been sprints or a mile and one-sixteenths usually run later in the meet.
Last year the racing office scheduled two races at a mile early in the meet and did so again this year. The one race run this year for juveniles at a mile had only six runners, but it was an eventful affair and more importantly, in the eyes of the riders, a dangerous one. They reportedly indicated those conditions were no longer acceptable and became even more adamant when Sunday’s race was scheduled to go with a full ten-horse field.
Safety concerns of the riders regarding the distance and composition of the field were not timely communicated or addressed, leading to a showdown between the racing office and the riders after betting had commenced. In the end the New York Racing Association changed the distance of the race to a mile and a sixteenth to provide more distance to the first turn. (When finally run the race was uneventful.)
What ensued thereafter was ugly. Pick 6 and other horizontal wagering cancelled; the racing card delayed a full 20 minutes; bitter feeling expressed by NYRA’s on air personalities, and nuanced statements by riders and racing officials each casting blame on the other. Frustrated bettors (inartfully referred to as “gamblers” by NYRA officials) viewed this either as incompetence or arrogance.
The mile grass distance was sought by some trainers as an option for their two-year-olds, but given the riders’ concerns it would be wise to run such races at a mile and sixteenth going forward.
An unforced error for no discernible reason.