Maple Leaf Mel | Horse Racing Free Tips

In Tragedy’s Aftermath, Humanity, Humility Rule the Day

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY — With a simple but poignant salute Sunday morning, trainer Brendan Walsh honored Maple Leaf Mel (Cross Traffic) the ill-fated standout of the GI Test S., by giving the winner's blanket of flowers for the race to her trainer she was named for: Melanie Giddings.

The flowers were placed as a memorial at the front of the filly's vacant stall.

Maple Leaf Mel, unbeaten in her five-race career, was on her way to victory Saturday afternoon when she suffered the injury about 10 yards from the finish. A moment or two later, Pretty Mischievous (Into Mischief), trained by Walsh for Godolphin, reached the wire first. While people wept in the suddenly hushed season-high crowd of 43,788–a record attendance for a Whitney Day crowd–Maple Leaf Mel was euthanized on the track just past the finish line.

Although it was bright and sunny at historic Saratoga Race Course Sunday, the palpable grief lingered.

While the program continued after the tragic incident in the Test, there was no ceremony after the 98th running of the $500,000 seven-furlong race for 3-year-old fillies.

“We didn't feel it was right to go back to the winner's circle,” Walsh said. “Nobody wanted to.”

Sunday morning, Walsh's assistant, Charlie Lynch, was able to locate the white floral arrangement from the New York Racing Association and he and Walsh took it to Giddings.

“We weren't sure whether it'd be a nice thing or not to do it,” Walsh said, “but the team and Godolphin, they were all for it as well. And I think Melanie liked it. So, it was nice.”

Walsh and Giddings are stabled close to each other near the Oklahoma training track. He said she thanked him for giving her the flowers.

“I can't imagine what she's gone through in the last 12 hours,” Walsh said softly. “It's just devastating.”

Walsh said it was right to credit Maple Leaf Mel for how well she ran in what would have been her first Grade I victory for Giddings and owner Bill Parcells. She quickly took the lead out of the gate and posted early fractions of :22.28 seconds, :44.58 and 1:09.34.

“She was the best horse in the race,” Walsh said. “It was just horrible that happened. When I think about it, if it happened to (Pretty Mischievous), I'd be in an absolute mess.”

Maple Leaf Mel's injury came at the end of a gallant effort under jockey Joel Rosario and instantly changed the mood at the track. Rosario, who was unseated and fell hard on the track, was taken to Albany Medical Center to be checked for injury. The NYRA press office reported Sunday that he was body sore and needed some stitches to his lip. He took off his mounts Sunday.

Giddings took to Twitter early Sunday morning to express her thanks for the outpouring of support. Later in the day, she spoke with the NYRA notes team.

“She was my little traveling buddy. It's a sad day,” she said. “It's what she loved to do. She never looked worse than when she came in from two months at the farm. She just loved running and she loved being here at the track. That's what she loved the most.”

Walsh said he does not know the longtime exercise rider and first-year trainer well. Just after the accident, as her New York-bred filly was being tended to, Walsh tried to support and console Giddings.

“She was out in the track yesterday and I went over and gave her a hug, because she was just stood there crying,” he said. “I felt so bad.”

Parcells named the filly for Giddings, a native of Canada who was an exercise rider for his trainer Jeremiah Englehart. When Giddings, a cancer survivor, opened her own stable earlier this season, Parcells moved the filly to her stable. He also supported her by sending her some other horses.

The compelling story of the Maple Leaf Mels quickly provided the fledgling trainer with an identity in the racing, which Walsh noted is important.

“Certain horses, they take you from starting off and nobody takes any notice of you,” he said. “And then you win a graded stake with a horse and then a certain horse, like we say, Maxfield, took us to the next step. Now this filly has taken us to where we won a Classic with her. They do so much for us. I can't describe how much you appreciate them for it.”

The Whitney program is the second-biggest day on the Saratoga calendar. With good weather and a strong card loaded with stakes it attracted a big, joyous crowd. The early racing was very exciting. The atmosphere changed when Maple Leaf Mel was injured.

“There was a buzz about the place when I was walking down to the paddock. Nice crowd,” Walsh said. “I came back up to the test barn and I went back down again, an hour later, and it was like somebody had stuck a pin in the balloon. The place was just deflated.”

After a slight pause, Walsh punctuated his thoughts.

“It just kind of tore the heart out,” he said. “It's the last thing that we needed.

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Cody’s Wish Streaks Into Whitney

Cody's Wish (Curlin) will be heavily favored over five rivals to add another chapter to racing's feel-good story in Saturday's GI Whitney S. at Saratoga.

The Godolphin homebred, winner of last term's GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile and the stallion-making GI Hill 'N' Dale Metropolitan H. at Belmont Park June 10, seeks his first career win beyond one mile in the nine-furlong Whitney, a 'Win and You're In' for the GI Breeders' Cup Classic at Santa Anita.

The 1-2 morning-line favorite, named after Cody Dorman, who was born with the rare genetic disorder Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome and is unable to walk or communicate without utilizing a tablet, is currently riding a six-race winning streak. He will exit widest of all from post six with regular rider Junior Alvarado aboard.

“We have reason to believe he could do it,” Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott said of Cody's Wish tackling the additional distance. “He's come a long way. He was terribly green when we ran him at three in his first few races. He just didn't know whether to go forward or that sort of thing.”

Mott continued, “This is a very good horse and hopefully for our sake, he can go on. There's a great story that goes with him with Cody Dorman, so the whole scenario turns out to be very special.”

The field for the Whitney also includes: last term's GI Blue Grass S. winner Zandon (Upstart), runner-up to Cody's Wish in the Met Mile; and 'TDN Rising Star' Charge It (Tapit), a last out winner of the GII Suburban S. July 8 and fourth-place finisher in the Met Mile.

Saturday's stacked 12-race program at the Spa also co-features a fantastic renewal of the GI Test S. Godolphin homebred and 'TDN Rising Star' Pretty Mischievous (Into Mischief) cuts back to seven furlongs following top-shelf wins in the GI Kentucky Oaks May 5 and GI Acorn S. June 9. The rail-drawn, 9-5 morning-line favorite will face off versus unbeaten New York-bred Maple Leaf Mel (Cross Traffic), a sharp winner of the GIII Victory Ride S. downstate July 8.

A field of nine will line up for the GI Saratoga Derby Invitational over the Mellon Turf Course, led by LSU Stable's GI Belmont Derby Invitational S. winner and 'TDN Rising Star' Far Bridge (English Channel). Glen Hill Farm and Mrs. John Magnier's GI Fasig-Tipton Belmont Oaks Invitational S. winner Aspen Grove (Ire) (Justify), cross-entered in Friday's GIII Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Oaks Invitational, will instead take on the boys in the Saratoga Derby.

Last term's GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint upsetter and GI Jaipur S. heroine Caravel (Mizzen Mast), meanwhile, will take on males once again in the GIII Troy S. on the Whitney undercard.

“She's been able to beat the boys three out of her last four and hopefully four out of her last five,” trainer Brad Cox said. “It would be exciting if she can do it again.”

Saturday's graded stakes action also includes Del Mar's GI Clement L. Hirsch, a 'Win and You're In' for the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff. Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert will be represented by the imposing duo of Adare Manor (Uncle Mo) and Fun to Dream (Arrogate) in the five-horse field. Adare Manor captured her third straight win in the GII Santa Margarita S. June 10 while Fun to Dream just got tagged by a head in the GI Beholder Mile S. last time Mar. 11.

The weekend's graded stakes action rolls into Sunday with upset GIII Schuylerville S. debut winner Becky's Joker (Practical Joke) headlining a field of 10 in the GIII Adirondack S. at Saratoga; the GIII La Jolla H. at Del Mar; Mountaineer Park's GIII West Virginia Derby and GIII West Virginia Governor's S.; and Ellis Park's GIII Pucker Up S.

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Mel Giddings Enjoys First Saratoga Summer With Her Own Stable

Melanie Giddings had originally planned on a no-stress summer when she decided to move her fledgling stable from its home base at Palm Meadows up to New York for the Saratoga meet.

“I had said, 'Why don't we just go up to Saratoga and enjoy ourselves?'” Giddings recalled with her signature easy smile. “No pressure, no nothing. Just take the horses there and see what we can do.”

Those expectations went out the window pretty quickly when a filly named Maple Leaf Mel (Cross Traffic) landed in her barn. The undefeated sophomore won her first race with Giddings listed as trainer when she put in a dominant gate-to-wire performance in the GIII Victory Ride S. on July 8 and now, Giddings and her stable star are preparing for what will be the biggest race of both their careers in the Aug. 5 GI Test S.

Last spring, former Super Bowl-winning head coach Bill Parcells purchased Maple Leaf Mel for his August Dawn Farm at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Sale. He decided to name the daughter of Cross Traffic after Canadian-born Giddings, who was then the assistant to his regular trainer Jeremiah Englehart.

Giddings has been with Maple Leaf Mel since the grey filly first came to the racetrack, so when Giddings went out on her own at the beginning of this year, her namesake soon followed. It was a decision by Parcells and Englehart that Giddings does not take lightly.

“It would have been weird for me to not have her in my barn, but to have her in my name is pretty incredible,” she explained. “It's a big responsibility to try to live up to a filly who is undefeated and keep it that way. I'm so grateful for Coach to give me the chance and for Jeremiah to be so supportive of my training career and let me have this filly in my name.”

Mel Giddings and Jeremiah Englehart celebrate Maple Leaf Mel's first graded stakes win in the GIII Miss Preakness S. | Horsephotos

The pressure was on in the Victory Ride when Giddings was first listed as Maple Leaf Mel's trainer, especially when the entries included the likes of MGSW Red Carpet Ready (Oscar Performance) and Grade II-placed Interpolate (Into Mischief). Giddings called an old friend and mentor for a confidence boost before the race.

“I spoke with Jeremiah when the past performances came out and I said, 'Well I drew the toughest field to have her in my name for the first time.' He told me not to worry and he was right. She doesn't care who it is and horses don't read the form. She went out there like every other time and put on a show.”

Now five-for-five with four stakes wins to her credit, Maple Leaf Mel is emerging as one of the top fillies of her division, but her trainer said that the speedy grey is like a kid on the playground when she steps into the starting gate.

“I think for her, being a good racehorse is just the fact that she loves her job,” said Giddings. “She knows what day it is when it's time to run and she's a different horse. She can't wait to run. I don't even know if she really knows what she's doing. She just goes out there and she thinks it's a good time.”

Maple Leaf Mel put in her most recent work in preparation for the Test on July 21, going four furlongs in :49.22.

“She's feeling frisky,” reported Giddings. “I'll try to keep her that way and keep her as fresh as I can going in. This will obviously be the biggest race of her life.”

Giddings has been around her fair share of talented racehorses in her 26 years in the industry. Over the years she has worked for the likes of Al Stall Jr., Mark Casse, Kevin Attard, Steve Asmussen and Roger Attfield. The thought of hanging out her own shingle never really crossed her mind until a life-threatening illness put things in a new perspective.

In 2020, Giddings was diagnosed with Stage 4B endocervical and ovarian cancer. After surgery to remove two grapefruit-sized tumors, several rounds of chemotherapy, and a long recovery, Giddings returned to the racetrack.

Maple Leaf Mel goes five-for-five in the GIII Victory Ride S. | Sarah Andrew

“I thought I would see how I could make it through the first year, whether I could even make it still doing what I love doing,” recalled Giddings. “The first year was really tough. I mean, that first year if you had said that I was going to train, I'd have told you that you're nuts because I was struggling a lot.”

But by last year, Giddings was back to overseeing around 40 horses in the Englehart barn and soon after, she discovered the dream she never really knew she had.

“I had never thought of training,” said Giddings. “I just always loved the racetrack. I've been here for 26 years and I just love getting horses ready and I take pride in them doing well and succeeding. When I got sick, I wasn't sure if I would ever be able to have another job in my life, let alone make it. So when I did I thought, 'Why not do it for myself?' No stress, no goals. Just do it and see what happens.”

Giddings said she sometimes can't believe how much time has passed since those long, excruciating months when she was so far removed from life on her beloved racetrack.

“Sometimes I look at my hair and I go, 'Oh, it's been that long,'” she said, grabbing her ponytail of now shoulder-length hair.

So just over three years after she first received the cancer diagnosis, Giddings is soaking in every moment with a filly named in her honor and a stable of promising 2-year-olds that she hopes will further her stable's early success.

Giddings has eight horses in her barn on the Oklahoma this summer, which she runs with the help of her 15-year-old pup Reese. Maple Leaf Mel is her only older horse, but Giddings has always enjoyed working with the babies and she is excited about the progress of each of her pupils.

On Wednesday, another auspicious grey namesake called Mel's Angel (Leofric) will make her debut at Saratoga. Picked out by Giddings for $32,000 at the OBS March Sale for owner James Kelly, the filly will face fellow New York-breds sprinting on the turf.

“Mel's Angel is really straightforward,” said Giddings. “She's a total sweetheart in the barn, but she's got a lot of feistiness on the track.”

With several new clients, Giddings hopes to be busy claiming and taking on the sales in the coming months. She understands the struggles that come with starting out on your own and she is grateful to the owners who have shown their support from the start.

“It's tough to break out on your own if you don't have people to back you,” she said. “If you're not winning, you're not making money so [support] is huge. We're super grateful to owners like Bill Parcells, who gave Maple Leaf Mel some time off when we asked him to and now she's rewarding him. I'm just glad it worked out because we all told him that it would and now here she is. I hope she can have a big year for him.”

Of course, not every horse in her stable will be another Maple Leaf Mel, but Giddings loves all her horses just the same.

“You get attached to the horses,” she said. “They all have their own personality. I mean, even if they're a five claimer of if they're a stakes winner, I love them all.”

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Saratoga Set for 155th Season of Racing

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y–Nothing new at old Saratoga this summer. As has been the case for many decades, most of racing's stars will be in town for America's most important Thoroughbred meet of the year.

The first race of the 40 days of the 155th season opens at 1:10 p.m. Thursday with a 10-race program at Saratoga Race Course. By the time the meeting reaches its conclusion on Labor Day, Sept. 4, over 400 races, including 71 stakes worth $20.8 million, will have been run. The traditional opening-day feature is the $175,000 GIII Schuylerville S. for 2-year-old fillies.

Godolphin's Cody's Wish (Curlin), quite likely the most popular horse in the country, leads the deep lineup of standouts expected to compete at Saratoga this summer. That group includes 2022 Eclipse Award winners Forte (Violence), Nest (Curlin), Elite Power (Curlin) and Goodnight Olive (Ghostzapper), all of whom won over the track during their championship seasons. Unbeaten Maple Leaf Mel (Cross Traffic) is on course for the GI Test on the Whitney Day program on Aug. 5.

Todd Pletcher, the 14-time leading trainer at Saratoga, said that Forte will prep for the GI Travers in the GII Jim Dandy on July 29, but the decision has not been made on whether Tapit Trice (Tapit) will run in the GI Haskell on July 23 at Monmouth Park or the Jim Dandy. He said his grass star Up to the Mark (Not This Time) is likely to run in the GI Arlington Million at Colonial Downs, Suburban S. winner Charge It (Tapit) is a candidate for GI Whitney S. on Aug. 5 and that Far Bridge (English Channel) will follow his Belmont Derby score with a start in the GI Saratoga Derby Invitational of Aug. 5.

Cody's Wish, the winner of six straight and nine of his last 10 starts for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott, is on course for the $1 million Whitney. It will be a distance test for GI Met Mile winner; he was third in his lone try at 1 1/8 miles in 2021 at Saratoga.

Todd Pletcher will have all of his stars at Saratoga | Sarah K. Andrew

Three years after the Saratoga season was conducted without fans because of the Covid-19 pandemic and following last year's record-setting summer with remarkable weather, this Saratoga meet appears ready to settle into the familiar groove with the focus fixed squarely on the equine talent. It's business as usual at the Spa.

“I think you always think about Saratoga that way,” said Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher. “The COVID year was certainly strange, because it was the first time I'd ever seen empty stalls here because some people were unable to attend. But, aside from that, I think you always come into Saratoga expecting to see the best horses in the Midwest and the East Coast and we'll probably get some California shippers. It's that time of the year when you expect to see top-class horses, running in all the big races.”

This will be the 10th season that Jason Fitch and his brothers Adam and Patrick, have operated Kings Tavern, a fixture on Union Avenue across from the main entrances to Saratoga Race Course. Jason Fitch said that in the past few weeks the track has awakened from its annual slumber.

“The vibe is hard to describe. It's because it's kind of like COVID never happened,” he said. “It's like, everything's back to normal. Everybody's happy. Everyone's excited.”

Kings has a solid year-round local clientele and Fitch said with some out-of-town track customers already making their first visits of 2023, one season flows into the next.

“It kind of felt like the track ended like yesterday,” he said. “For me, personally, it feels like, just yesterday was Labor Day.”

During the racing season Kings opens early: at 9 a.m. on Saturdays and 10 a.m., Wednesday-Friday and on Sunday.

In recent years, the New York Racing Association has unveiled a series of capital projects on the grounds. Last year, the rebuilt Wilson Chute enabled NYRA to add one-mile dirt races to its lineup. This year, the most notable addition is very important–the backstretch healthcare clinic building–but not something that the average racegoer would be aware of.

Saratoga's patrons will notice a change of admission pricing and the move to an all-access ticket. NYRA announced in March that daily tickets purchased at least 24 hours in advance will cost $7 and the day-of-the-event price is $10. Since 2019, a grandstand ticket cost $7 and clubhouse entry was $10. The new approach will allow all visitors to go into the clubhouse. General admission on Travers Day will be $30, but $25 in advance.

Some of the bigger names in sport will compete early in the meet. In Italian (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) trained by Chad Brown will go after her second-straight win in the GI Diana Saturday and Clairiere (Curlin) will try to repeat in the GII Shuvee on July 23 against Nest, who will be making her 2023 debut.

Nest showed that she was of championship caliber last summer with GI wins in the Coaching Club American Oaks and the Alabama. Pletcher said that the Shuvee run is intended to set her up for the GI Personal Ensign on Aug. 25.

“We wanted to get started a little earlier,” Pletcher said. “Unfortunately, she got sick when she first came in and we basically missed a month. It took a little while, to get her well enough to get her back into training. Our original plan was to either run at Keeneland or Churchill and then the Ogden Phipps. It's just unfortunate that set us back to the point where she is just now getting ready.”

The Saratoga season features important off-track events, too. The Jockey Club's annual Round Table will be conducted on Thursday, Aug. 3, the National Museum of Racing's Hall of Fame will induct its newest members on Aug. 4 and the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale of select yearlings will take place on Aug. 7-8.

Pletcher and Chad Brown have been the kingpins on the trainer's table for 12 consecutive years and it's a very safe bet that they will be vying for the title once again. Brown has won the last two and five of the last seven. Defending champ Irad Ortiz Jr. has won the jockey's competition four times.

2023 Kentucky Derby winner Mage | Horsephotos

Though the $1.25 million Travers, first run in 1864, is always the marquee race of the season, it could be a crucial test to determine the 3-year-old male title following a spring in which three different horses won the Triple Crown races. That trio, GI Kentucky Derby winner Mage (Good Magic), GI Preakness S. winner National Treasure (Quality Road) and G1 Belmont S. champ Arcangelo (Arrogate), may meet in the Travers on Aug. 26. If that happens, it will be an oddity: just the fourth time in history and first since 2017. Arcangelo is already based at Saratoga and being pointed to the Travers. Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert has not announced which horses he will run at Saratoga–in his return to the track after missing 2022 due to a ban imposed by the New York Racing Association–but on Monday did not rule out National Treasure for the Travers. He said that recent Los Alamitos Derby winner Reincarnate (Good Magic) is a Travers possibility.

Mage was given a break following his third-place finish in the Preakness on May 20 and resumed training in June. After his next scheduled breeze Friday at The Thoroughbred Center a decision will be made on whether he will make his next start in the Haskell or the Jim Dandy.

“It's a special moment, for sure,” said Mage's co-owner Ramiro Restrepo. “To have all the classic winners in one spot it's lovely for the fans and lovely for the horse players. Like any athlete or representative of an athlete, you want to run against the best and compete against the best and hopefully put forth a good effort. For ourselves, as a collective, our lifelong dreams have been the Kentucky Derby and the Travers. Our dreams are those two races. It's been an incredible ride to have accomplished one and to have a decent shot to accomplish the second one would be, it's really the stuff of dreams. The Travers is our end-all, be-all. That's what we're focusing on.”

Cody's Wish | Sarah K. Andrew

Cody's Wish is a very talented 5-year-old with a distinctive backstory. He is named for Cody Dorman, of Richmond, Kentucky who was born with Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome. As a result of the syndrome, Dorman uses a wheelchair and communicates with a tablet. They met in 2018 during a Make-A-Wish Foundation visit to Gainsborough Farm. The young foal interacted with Dorman and laid his head on the boy's lap, which led to his naming.

Mott's always-strong barn is especially heavy with headliners this year with Cody's Wish, Sprint champion Elite Power, and War Like Goddess (English Channel) in the lineup.

Once a seasonal visitor to Saratoga, Mott has a large part of his stable based at Saratoga for most of the warm weather months. He said he looks forward to the meet.

“It's fun. It's exciting to be a trainer here,” he said. “It's fun when there's enthusiasm around. We enjoy it.”

In the late 1950s, Saratogians feared that NYRA, then a new organization, might drop Saratoga, which was far less popular than the meets at Belmont Park and Aqueduct Racetrack. In 1957, the state legislature passed a bill guaranteeing Saratoga a 24-day season without competition at the downstate tracks. By the 1970s, Saratoga's stature had risen again and it is the most significant meeting on the NYRA calendar. Benefitting from warm, dry weather last summer, NYRA lost just 16 grass races–compared to 45 in 2021–and registered a record all-sources handle of $878,211,963, a jump of 7.7% from the previous year. Excluding fan-free 2020, NYRA reported its seventh-straight season of one million in paid attendance.

In a well-timed announcement on Monday, the Saratoga County Industrial Development Agency said a new report it commissioned showed that the meet at Saratoga Race Course generates $371 million in economic activity and more than 2,900 jobs in the Capital Region.

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