The Best of Saratoga 2013

I was fortunate to attend 10 of the 40 racing days at Saratoga during this summer of 2013. It was a Saratoga summer with unusually dry and mild weather. Very few races came off the turf and very few races were run on wet tracks. The typical hot temperatures and humid air were absent and so were the late afternoon thunderstorms.

 

During this 150^th anniversary year celebration there were a total of 33 graded stakes races run at the Spa. Below you will find the chart that I kept all meeting that includes the winners of all those races and their Beyer Speed Figures.

 

 

Princess of Sylmar was the only horse to win two grade one stakes during the meeting. She backed up her victory in the Kentucky Oaks by first winning the Coaching Club American Oaks in July and then the Alabama in August. Those three impressive triumphs have locked up the three year-old filly championship for the Princess and her owner Eddie Stanco.

 

 

Dance to Bristol came to Saratoga having won five races in a row and she became a star after adding two graded stakes to that streak. First she overcame traffic to get a close victory in the Honorable Miss on July 29^th and she came back less than a month later to win the grade one Ballerina.

 

John Velazquez became the all-time leader in wins at Saratoga when the jockey visited the Spa winner’s circle for the 694^th time. With that victory on July 24^th, Johnny V. passed fellow Hall of Famer Jerry Bailey.

 

Royal Delta won the Personal Ensign after a second place finish in that race last year. Trainer Bill Mott brought her to Saratoga off a win in the Delaware Handicap. Clearly she is headed to the Breeders’ Cup to defend her title in the Distaff. It is possible that she will meet Princess of Sylmar in the Beldame at Belmont Park on Sept. 28^th.

 

Wise Dan returned to the Spa to win the Fourstardave for the second year in a row. Wise Dan is currently on an eight-race winning streak that includes only grade one and two stakes. He has won 11 out of his last 12 races with his only narrow loss to Ron the Greek in the 2012 Stephen Foster. Wise Dan is the Horse of the Year and he will stay Horse of the Year until the title goes to another horse.

 

Even though there was very little rain this summer at the Spa, the top two year-olds made their mark on sloppy racetracks. I was amazed at the maiden victory of the Street Sense filly Sweet Reason. She ran one of the most visually impressive races of the meetings by rallying from 19 lengths behind to a six-length victory. Sweet Reason found another sloppy track when she again came from off the pace to get trainer Leah Gyarmati her first grade one win in the Spinaway.

 

Ken Ramsey predicted that he would win the Leading Owner title at Saratoga and thus end Mike Repole’s streak of the past three years. Ramsey did it in record-breaking fashion when he ended the meeting with 22 wins.