Who Wins The Travers?

Saturday’s Grade 1, $1.25 million Travers Stakes drew a field of eight 3-year-olds that will face the 1 1/4-mile distance at Saratoga. Here’s a look at the field: 1. CYBERKNIFE [ML 7-2] Trainer: Brad Cox. Jockey: Florent Geroux. Has Won four out of his last five races with the only loss coming in the Kentucky Derby (G1) when he beat only two horses to the wire. Among his … Continue reading Who Wins The Travers?

Travers Upsets

Saratoga Race Course has a vivid history in all things horse racing. But perhaps The Spa is most well-known for this: it’s the racetrack where favorites lose and longshots score the biggest Victories of their lives. MAN O’ WAR and SECRETARIAT lost at Saratoga. A horse named JIM DANDY Won the 1930 Travers Stakes over that year’s Triple Crown Winner GALLANT FOX at amazing odds of 100-1.  … Continue reading Travers Upsets

Travers Trends

The historic $1.25 million dollar, Grade 1 Travers Stakes dates all the way back to 1864, which means it’s older than the any of the Triple Crown races. The 1 ¼-mile contest annually attracts some of the best 3-year-old Thoroughbreds in the country and is often referred to as the Mid-Summer Derby. The Travers can be a tricky race to handicap. Its rich purse and great prestige … Continue reading Travers Trends

Winning A Pick 5

The .50 cent late Pick 5 at Saratoga on Friday paid $6,752 dollars. The Pick 5 is one of the best wagers on the menu at any race track in the country.  With its low 15% takeout rate and .50 cent minimum bet, the Pick 5 can be a lucrative wager for beginners and experts alike. This particular wager has become immensely popular. At Saratoga Race … Continue reading Winning A Pick 5

The Alabama Stakes

Saturdays feature event at Saratoga is the 142nd running of the Alabama Stakes. The prestigious stakes race for 3-year-old fillies is one of the oldest races for females in the United States, with its first edition taking place in 1872 in a race Won by WOODBINE, a horse owned by August Belmont. The race itself was not precisely named in honor of the great state of Alabama; rather, it was … Continue reading The Alabama Stakes

The Fourstardave

Just like the horse for which it’s named, the Grade 1 Fourstardave Handicap at Saratoga has come a long way since its inaugural running in 1985. From 1987 to 1994, the New York-bred gelding FOURSTARDAVE Won at least one race at Saratoga yearly, including the 1988 Albany Handicap, the 1989 and 1991 West Point Handicaps, and consecutive editions of the Daryl’s Joy in 1990 and 1991. Trained by Leo … Continue reading The Fourstardave

The World’s Best Riders

Given the immense talent and extraordinary depth of the star-studded jockey colony competing at Saratoga this year, an interesting question arises. Where does this group rank among the greatest of all time? The talent begins with Irad Ortiz Jr. but hardly ends there. Ortiz swept three consecutive Eclipse Awards as North America’s leading rider from 2018 to 2020, a stretch matched only by Jerry Bailey, … Continue reading The World’s Best Riders

Some Saratoga Horse Sense

Wednesday marks the beginning of the third week of racing at Saratoga Race Course, and the second visit to the Spa for the Daily Racing Blog. It is day 15 of a season of 40 racing cards, at a track where top horses, trainers, and jockeys congregate, for some of the best racing action all year long. Saratoga is universally considered one of the premier … Continue reading Some Saratoga Horse Sense

The Whitney…Marylou

This Saturday the Saratoga Race Course will host the 94th running of the Whitney Stakes.  The Daily Racing Blog would be remiss if we didn’t talk about the Queen of Saratoga– Marylou Whitney, who passed away July 19th of 2019, at the age of 93. For seven decades, Mrs. Whitney was among the most successful owners in thoroughbred racing. In 1958 she married Cornelius Vanderbilt “Sonny” Whitney, one of the founders of the National Museum of … Continue reading The Whitney…Marylou

The Summer Place To Be

The 2022 season racing season at Saratoga is two weeks old. The Daily Racing Blog would love to report that it’s kicking ass and taking names, but no horse player at this stage of the meet is drinking anyone’s milkshake. It is the nature of the beast here at America’s track. There are certain thoroughbred race horses (regardless of their odds) that always battle back.  … Continue reading The Summer Place To Be