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Pletcher Back On Top At Saratoga; Irad Ortiz Jr., Klaravich Stables Also Claim Titles

Todd Pletcher, Irad Ortiz, Jr. and Klaravich Stables finished atop their respective standings with the trio finishing as the leading trainer, jockey and owner for the 40-day summer meet at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., that concluded on Labor Day Monday.

“It doesn't get old and it doesn't get easier,” said Pletcher. “I've been fortunate to have won it that many times, but I still have a tremendous appreciation for how hard it is to do. I have a lot of great owners and I'm grateful for the opportunities with so many good horses.”

Pletcher returned to familiar territory, finishing as the leading trainer for the Saratoga summer meet for the 14th time in his illustrious career, tallying 32 wins.

Pletcher, who won his first Saratoga crown in 1998, won the H. Allen Jerkens award as the meet's top conditioner for the first time since 2017, registering a record of 32-23-15 with 142 starters. His success ended reigning four-time Eclipse Award-winner Chad Brown's run of two consecutive meet titles and three in four years. Brown finished second with 28 wins.

Pletcher expressed his gratitude for the team effort in securing the title.

“It means a lot to the whole team,” said Pletcher. “A lot of people put in a lot of hard work. We were understaffed coming in and a lot of guys and girls put in a lot of work for this. I'm grateful for that and happy to be a part of the achievement.”

Among Pletcher's highlights was saddling Halladay for his Grade 1 Fourstardave triumph on August 22 while racking up stakes wins with Spinoff [Alydar], Nonna Madeline [Summer Colony] and Moretti [Birdstone].

“Halladay winning the Fourstardave stands out for me,” said Pletcher. “Grade 1 wins are hard to come by and that was a big win.”

The 53-year-old Pletcher won six Saratoga training titles consecutively from 2010-15 and tallied his most wins in a summer meet with 40 in 2017.

“Someone said to me this morning if I won that it would be the fourth different decade I've won a training title and I thought that was kind of cool,” said Pletcher. “I'd say aside from the first one in 1998, this was the next most rewarding.”

Irad Ortiz, Jr. earned the Angel Cordero, Jr. Award for the third time overall and first since 2018, finishing with 59 wins to top younger brother Jose Ortiz [58 wins] and Joel Rosario [48] in third. Ortiz, Jr. won his first crown in 2015.

“It's very special. My agent [Steve Rushing] did a great job and I'm very thankful for all the trainers and owners, without them I would not be here,” said Ortiz, Jr., who missed three days of racing late in the meet with a wrist injury. “After my injury, I had to take off a few days and they still named me on their horses and gave me the confidence and the opportunity.”

The 28-year-old native of Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico compiled a 59-47-43 record in 282 mounts, totaling earnings of more than $4.4 million with a winning percentage of better than 20 percent.

A memorable meet was highlighted by his winning ride aboard Improbable in the Grade 1 Whitney on August 1, part of a day in which he registered four wins in total. Trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, Improbable marked the second Whitney winner in three years for Ortiz, Jr., who also was victorious with Diversify in 2018.

Ortiz, Jr. won 10 stakes at the meet including graded scores in the Grade 3 Peter Pan aboard Country Grammer on Opening Day; the Grade 3 With Anticipation on Fire At Will; and the Grade 2 Honorable Miss with Come Dancing on Sunday.

The veteran rider won with 5-of-8 mounts on July 23rd during a 10-race card at the Spa, led by a victory aboard Fresco in the NYSSS Statue of Liberty.

Ortiz, Jr. said he enjoyed the daily competition with his brother.

“We have fun,” said Ortiz, Jr. “He wants the best for me and I want the best for him.”

Klaravich Stables was once again the top Saratoga owner, recording 13 wins, 11 runner-up finishes and 17 third-place efforts from 58 starts. The win total was three more than the next-closest competitors in Repole Stable. Headed by Seth Klarman, the stable again teamed with Brown for its meet highlights, which included the stakes scores of Selflessly in the Grade 3 Lake George and Domestic Spending in the Saratoga Derby Invitational.

Live racing will now shift to Belmont Park for the 27-day fall meet, featuring 38 stakes worth $5.58 million in purse money, that will kick off on Friday, September 18 and run through Sunday, November 1.

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Kent Desormeaux Suspended For Disorderly Conduct After Using Racial Slur In July Incident At Del Mar

Hall of Fame jockey Kent Desormeaux has been suspended 15 days by California Horse Racing Board stewards for a July 28 incident on the grounds of the Del Mar racetrack and fairgrounds in which Desormeaux is said to have used a racial slur against an African-American television cameraman that led to a fight between the two men, according to Daily Racing Form.

The Del Mar Thoroughbred Club ejected Desormeaux from the property shortly after the incident.

The stewards' ruling, as reported by the Form, cited Desormeaux for disorderly conduct and requires that he be evaluated by the Winners Foundation, which offers assistance to individuals in California racing dealing with substance abuse issues. In the past, Desormeaux has admitted to being an alcoholic.

A verbal dispute in the RV parking area of the track property between Desormeaux, 50, and 44-year-old Guy Stuttley became physical after Desormeaux used a racial slur, according to the report. Stuttley was fined $200 for fighting and disorderly conducted in a separate ruling, according to the Form.

His agent, J.R. Pegram, said Desormeaux does not intend to appeal the suspension. Pegram told the Form the Louisiana native plans to return to Southern California to resume riding at the end of the suspension, which is to run through Sept. 22.

Jackie’s Warrior Too Fast For Rivals In Runhappy Hopeful

Stakes action at Saratoga Race Course concluded with an astonishing performance from J. Kirk and Judy Robison's Jackie's Warrior, who broke like a rocket and maintained the lead throughout to keep an unbeaten record intact with a 2 1/4-length win in the 116th running of the Grade 1, $250,000 Runhappy Hopeful for 2-year-olds going seven furlongs.

As the only stakes winner in the field, Jackie's Warrior made his last start in similar runaway fashion when taking the six-furlong Grade 2 Saratoga Special on August 7 at the Saratoga Springs, N.Y., track.

Piloted by Joel Rosario, Jackie's Warrior was quickest away from the gate and established a two-length lead through opening splits of 22.56 and 44.83 seconds over the fast main track.

Around the far turn, post time favorite Reinvestment Risk put in a bid but Jackie's Warrior kicked away and opened up to a five-length lead in deep stretch. Geared down past the eighth-pole, Jackie's Warrior stopped the clock in 1:21.29. Reinvestment Risk completed the exacta 10 ¼ lengths in front of Mutasaabeq.

Ampersand, Papetu, Nutsie and Fearless Fly completed the order of finish.

Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen, who scored his first Hopeful victory last year with Basin, became the first conditioner to notch back-to-back victories in the prestigious event for juveniles since D. Wayne Lukas saddled High Yield (1999) and Yonaguska (2000).

“He's a very athletic colt that gets over the ground extremely well,” said Asmussen's chief assistant Scott Blasi. “Steve picked him out for Mr. Robison, and it's been a good partnership over the years. We're extremely happy to have him.”

Blasi said Jackie's Warrior could target another Grade 1 on the NYRA circuit and point towards the Grade 1, $250,000 Champagne, a one-turn mile on October 10 at Belmont Park.

“He just continues to improve. He gets stronger in his works,” Blasi said. “He does things effortlessly. I'd expect he'd go on to the Champagne and the Breeders' Cup from there. But, one race at a time. We don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves.”

Jackie's Warrior was a maiden winner at first asking in June at Churchill Downs when piloted by Ricardo Santana, Jr. in a five-furlong maiden special weight sprint.

Rosario, who led all riders with 13 stakes wins at the meet, was aboard for the last-out Saratoga Special score and said he continues to be impressed by the swift colt.

“He broke really fast and I was two lengths in front right away,” Rosario said. “He's a fast horse. He was able to carry his speed the whole way around. I tried to get off the rail a little bit and it felt like he was comfortable with that.

“It's unbelievable the way he ran he ran last time and he was probably better today,” added Rosario. “He's a big horse and it looks like he can go longer, too.”

Returning $5.70 for a $2 win wager, Jackie's Warrior doubled his lifetime earnings to $265,064 in an unbeaten record of three starts.

Bred in Kentucky by J & J Stables, the Maclean's Music bay is out of the A.P. Five Hundred mare Unicorn Girl and was purchased for $95,000 from the 2019 Keeneland September yearling Sale, where he was consigned by Taylor Made Sales Agency.

Live racing will now move to Belmont Park for the 27-day fall meet, featuring 38 stakes worth $5.58 million in purse money, that will kick off on Friday, September 18 and run through Sunday, November 1.

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In an Unusual Year, Some Things Stay the Same at Saratoga

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Even without spectators on the grounds, the 152nd summer of racing in Saratoga produced a total betting handle of $702.5 million that was remarkably close to last year’s record figure of $705.3 million.

The daily average handle for the 40-day meet in 2020 was $17.6 million and the daily average handle for the weather-shortened 39-day meet in 2019 was $18.1 million.

The season concluded Monday as quietly as it began July 16, with a program conducted without fans, in compliance with New York State’s COVID-19 protocols for sporting events. Though the atmosphere was unlike any previous year, some things did not change: there was enthusiastic wagering support for the Saratoga product, Todd Pletcher extended his record with a 14th training title, and Irad Ortiz, Jr. nipped his brother Jose for the riding crown, 59-58. Irad Ortiz missed three days of the meet with an arm injury from a gate mishap. It was the sixth-straight year that an Ortiz was the Saratoga champ.

By the time New York permitted racing to resume at Belmont Park June 3, New York Racing Association officials had decided that it made more business sense to run at Saratoga, quite possibly without fans, than to stay in metropolitan New York for the summer. NYRA CEO and president David O’Rourke said the 2020 meet at Saratoga was a success on two levels: operating safely with no Covid-19 positives and the strong handle.

“In terms of the numbers, everyone has been very focused on the handle and the numbers have come in higher than we forecasted,” he said. “Slightly. Maybe about 5%. That’s good because it allows us to maintain the continuity of the racing. There was absolutely no clarity on when or if casinos would open and on what time line. Now that they have announced that they will be open in September, hopefully that can relieve a little bit of pressure as you get through the winter. For us, handle generation, obviously, is seasonal. We’re at the high point right now and with those extra funds, it will help us keep that continuity through next winter. That’s a relief.”

Despite the tote success, O’Rourke said having to operate without spectators cost NYRA approximately $15 million in the profit it makes at Saratoga selling seating, food and beverages.

O’Rourke offered “surreal” as the first way to describe the season without fans at America’s most popular racetrack.

“It was actually a beautiful summer up here,” he said. “It was like operating a racetrack in some sort of Twilight Zone science fiction movie where there is nobody around, but if you looked at it on television, you really sort of can’t tell until you get to the winner’s circle.”

O’Rourke said that running without fans felt like it was some sort of practice session.

“Now that it’s over, it’s kind of just a bizarre year,” he said. “Luckily, we’ve had the television platform, so it was us being inside the bubble in a lot of ways. At times we would sit upstairs and just focus on the TV aspect of it and say, ‘How is everyone else really seeing what’s going on?’ The media coverage has been great and it’s important. It’s really the only way that people are being able to connect with us. But when you watch it and experience it on television, it’s still Saratoga. When you look at in the Form, it’s still Saratoga. The racing has been really good.”

Sackatoga Stable’s Tiz the Law (Constitution) romped to victory in Saratoga’s marquee race, the GI Runhappy Travers S. Aug. 8. He was second to Authentic (Into Mischief) as the favorite in the GI Kentucky Derby Saturday at Churchill Downs. Peter Callahan’s Swiss Skydiver (Daredevil) was an easy winner of the GI Alabama S. Aug. 15 and she ended second in the GI Kentucky Oaks Sept. 4. For the second year in a row, Bob Baffert won the GI Whitney S., this time with Improbable (City Zip).

O’Rourke said NYRA’s decision a few years ago to invest in its advance deposit wagering app, NYRA Bets, and the move to daily national television coverage on Fox paid off in a big way when all betting had to be done off track. He said being on a sports channel when racing was the only live sport in America helped expand the customer base in June and carried into Saratoga.

“Maybe there is a slight silver lining in that the pandemic kind of forced a leap-frog effect in terms of people betting on their phones and watching us on television,” he said. “We saw [the growth in interest in ADW apps] coming and that’s why we invested pretty heavily with Fox and pushed toward that platform with NYRA Bets. Because nobody could come to the live track, I think it has accelerated that channel shift. It will be interesting next year when we are here and there are 25,000 people, are people still engaging, at least on the wagering side, on their phone?”

Both the training and jockey titles were decided on the final day of the season. Pletcher, 53, carried a five-win advantage over two-time defending champ Chad Brown into the 14-race card on Labor Day. Brown cut the lead with a victory, but Pletcher, who won his first Saratoga title in 1998, prevailed, earning the H. Allen Jerkens Award with 31 wins.

“It feels great. It’s very rewarding for the whole team,” Pletcher said. “A lot of people put a lot of hard work into it. It’s very satisfying.”

Pletcher said the emergence of his younger horses–he won with four 2-year-olds–helped him secure the title. The Pletcher stable won four stakes: the GI Fourstardave H. with Halladay (War Front); the Alydar S. with Spinoff (Hard Spun); the Summer Colony S. with Nonna Madeline (Candy Ride {Arg}); and the Birdstone S. with Moretti (Medaglia d’Oro).

Though he has won titles at other tracks, Pletcher said that finishing on top at the end of the competitive Saratoga season is very gratifying.

“I think it’s always more special here,” Pletcher said. “I’ve always said that Angel Cordero is the one that made it mean something. He always fought really hard. He’s been texting me the last couple of days. He won 14 and so it was kind of cool to tie him.”

Cordero, 77, presented the award that honors his dominance at Saratoga to Irad Ortiz in the winner’s circle after the final race. Moments later he embraced the Ortiz brothers, who had entered the day tied at 57 wins.

During the Covid-19 lockdown, NYRA officials considered staying downstate this summer. However, O’Rourke said that the turf courses at Belmont Park could not have handled two more months of competition and NYRA likely would have had to go to Aqueduct for a while. A better option, he said, was to commit to open the Oklahoma training track in Saratoga Springs June 4 and follow up about six weeks later with the racing season. Just before the season started, NYRA reacted to Covid-19 positives with jockeys at other tracks by locking down the riding colony. It proved to be a good move.

“The thing about this year, and everyone that has gone through a business, is that you don’t really have a playbook,” O’Rourke said. “I don’t want to say you are making it up, you’re just using the facts you have in front of you and trying to make educated guesses and trying to stay on the conservative side. Sometimes there is a little bit of luck involved if you get it right or not. So, all be told, it worked out.”

O’Rourke said that when the decision was made in late May to race at Saratoga, he thought there was an 80% probability that some spectators would be allowed into the track during the season. At that point, New York was making progress controlling the pandemic.

“We thought, ‘We’ll get through this and by the end of June everything will start to calm down,'” he said. “Then it seemed to turn pretty quick. We asked for fans–we didn’t have high expectations–and the state made the right call, obviously, given where New York is at now.”

As for 2021, O’Rourke said it’s too early to deal with what-ifs questions about protocols and limits on attendance.

“It’s something you don’t even want to think about,” he said. “We want to think about opening up next year with a record crowd on opening day, but if we have to adapt, we will.”

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