Breaking down every facet of upcoming Saratoga meet

With the new Belmont Park grandstand under construction, New York racing fans have been left with the Aqueduct fall meet, the Aqueduct winter meet, the Aqueduct spring meet, the Belmont at the Big A summer meet, the Belmont at the Big A fall meet and the Finger Lakes at the Big A meet.

OK, maybe not that last one, but you get the point. Sure, the Belmont Stakes was run upstate as well as the short and sweet July 4th Racing Festival, but now we get a full 40 days as the Saratoga summer meet commences.

Big days

Got your calendar ready?

The Diana is this Saturday, July 12. The Coaching Club American Oaks and the Vanderbilt on July 19. The Jim Dandy is July 26. Four Grade 1 races on Saturday, August 2 including the Whitney and Fourstardave.

The Sword Dancer is Aug. 9. The Alabama is on Aug. 16. There are five Grade 1 races on Travers Day on Aug. 23, including the Forego and the Personal Ensign. The Spinaway is on Aug. 30, the Jockey Club Gold Cup is on Aug. 31 and the Hopeful is on closing day, Labor Day, September 1.

It’s all about the horses

While Preakness winner Journalism may run in the Haskell at Monmouth Park, he still may ship north to challenge arch rival Sovereignty in the Travers. Mindframe, Fierceness, Sierra Leone, White Abarrio and Skippylongstocking make this year’s edition of the Whitney a must-see.

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Thorpedo Anna, the 2024 Horse of the Year, was defeated by Raging Sea in May. Thorpedo Anna will attempt to turn the tables when they meet in the Personal Ensign.

Trainers

Two words. Chad Brown.

He ran away (with a little help from his four-legged friends) with the 2024 meet. Brown saddled 45 winners and it was a long way back to Todd Pletcher and Mike Maker who dead-heated for second with 22 winners.

While Linda Rice (18) and Bill Mott (15) rounded out the top five, it was Mark Casse who had the higher win percentage (28.3 percent).

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Riders up!

Irad Ortiz Jr. visited the winners circle 52 times last summer but it was Flavien Prat who set records for most stakes wins (18) and graded stakes wins (14) at a Saratoga meet.

Expect Luis Saez, Junior Alvarado, Manny Franco and Dylan Davis to get their fair share of wins and Jose Ortiz may give his brother, Irad, a run for his money.

One thing for sure. You will both love and curse every rider before the meet is over.

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On the turf

Chad Brown is a smart bet on dirt. And an even safer bet on the grass. Of Brown’s 45 winners last summer, 26 were on the lawn. That number was three times larger than the rest of the conditioners.

Baby races

First impressions are important and there will be plenty of 2-year-olds making their career debuts at Saratoga over the 40-day meet.

A look back shows Chad Brown, yes him again, led last year’s standings with 10 juvenile wins, but only one more than the nine that Mark Casse trained.

Casse’s Ewing, a son of Knicks Go, slam-dunked his debut on July 5, winning by a dozen lengths and may reappear in the Hopeful later in the meet.

Might as well jump

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Steeplechase racing has long been a staple of the Saratoga meet.

Stakes on this year’s schedule include the A.P. Smithwick Memorial on July 23 and the Jonathan Sheppard Memorial on Aug. 20.

Freebies

Giveaway days this summer:

July 11: T-shirt

July 20: Hawaiian shirt

July 25: Blanket

Aug. 8: Pennant

Aug. 22: Tote bag

Aug. 31: Saratoga quarter zip sweatshirt

The forecast

Likely more losers than winners but hopefully the weather will cooperate this season more than it has the past two years. 2023 was bad. 2024 was worse.

Not only did the 40-day meet shrink to 39, but 45 turf races were taken off the grass and moved to the dirt/slop. Rooting for my picks and Mother Nature as well.

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Turn on the races

Fox Sports offers exclusive coverage of all races from Saratoga.

If you don’t want to pick your own winners, Greg Wolf, Laffit Pincay, Andy Serling, Richard Migliore, Jonathon Kinchen, Maggie Wolfendale, Acacia Clement and Sara Elbadwi will do it for you.

That’s enough handicappers to field a softball team. Did I forget anyone? Oh yes, Paul Lo Duca will bat cleanup.

Post time is 1:10 p.m. May all the photo finishes go your way.