The historic 2026 summer meet at Saratoga Race Course concludes it its 46-day run on Labor Day, leaving in its wake a trail of broken expectations, booming handles, and historical shifts that will be talked about for decades. The historical impact of the 2026 meet extends far beyond individual race results; it marks the conclusion of a unique chapter in New York racing history. Due … Continue reading Saratoga’s Final Week
Saratoga Race Course once again lived up to its moniker- the Graveyard of Champions on Saturday. LEADING CHANGE came into the Travers Stakes as the only undefeated colt among 10 starters – but he had only raced twice; he posted an impressive Maiden win sprinting at Churchill Downs in June followed by a hard-fought narrow victory in his two-turn debut in the Indiana Derby July 11th when … Continue reading Light On Experience, Heavy On Talent
The Grade 1, $1.25 million-dollar Travers Stakes is Saturday at Saratoga Race Course. The Mid-Summer Derby drew a field of 10 that features the winners of all of the Triple Crown races. Here is a brief look at the field: 1. EMERGING MARKET [ML 15-1] Jockey: Ricardo Santana Jr. Trainer: Chad Brown. Won his first two starts, including the Louisiana Derby (G2), which put him in the … Continue reading Who Wins The Travers Stakes?
Saturday is the 157th edition of the Travers Stakes at Saratoga Race Course. Also known as the Mid-Summer Derby it is by far the most popular day of the entire meet. Travers Day features five Grade 1, Stakes races, totaling $3.65 million dollars in purses. For the uninitiated here is a brief Travers Stakes historic primer. THE NAME: The Saratoga Racing Association named the Travers Stakes for William R. Travers (one of the founders of America’s oldest racecourse), they did … Continue reading Fundamental Travers
Saturdays feature event at Saratoga Race Course is the 146th 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. The first edition of the Alabama took 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 … Continue reading The Alabama Stakes
After a pair of losses to begin his 4-year-old campaign, reigning Horse of the Year SOVEREIGNITY ran back to form as he closed from the back of the pack to crush his competition in the million-dollar, Grade 1 Whitney Stakes Saturday at Saratoga Race Course. What the capacity crowd witnessed on Saturday was vintage SOVEREIGNITY. Last year’s Kentucky Derby, Belmont Stakes and Travers winner took his dynamic closing … Continue reading SOVEREIGNITY Rules The Whitney
The Grade 2, $500,000-dollar Jim Dandy Stakes is Saturday at Saratoga Race Course. It is the final major prep race for the Grade 1 Travers Stakes. It is a compact but talented field of five three-year-olds competing over 1 1/8 miles on the main track. The field may be small, but it features several accomplished Stakes runners with legitimate Travers aspirations. Here is a closer … Continue reading Who Wins The Jim Dandy Stakes?
Saturday is the 62nd running of the Jim Dandy Stakes at Saratoga Race Course. This race originated in 1964, and is for horses three years-old and up. It is raced at a mile and an eighth, on dirt, and classified as a Grade 2 Stakes race with a purse of $500,000 dollars. The track record for this race dates back to 1996 when LOUIS QUATORZE (that years Preakness winner) blazed to a … Continue reading Go Jim Dandy Go
In the lexicon of horse racing there are many different terms to measure the margin of victory. Going from closest to largest; a horse can win by a nose, head, or neck, by fractions of a length, or by a length or more. Though sometimes, there is no margin of victory to measure – when horses reach the finish line equally together. When that happens, … Continue reading Too Close To Call
For more than a century, Saratoga Race Course has earned one of the most famous monikers in horse racing: the Graveyard of Favorites. The historic track has a long tradition of humbling champions, turning seemingly unbeatable horses into victims of stunning upsets. While favorites win their fair share of races at Saratoga, the track’s history is filled with shocking defeats that have become part of … Continue reading The Graveyard of Favorites
