Friday’s Saratoga picks – July 24

Afternoon rain softening the sunbaked turf…stablemates, one inside, two outside…pace pressure stalling from two stalls over…now, a lone leader, but stretching a furlong… Riding the favorite Kathynmarissa for Diana dynamo Chad Brown, Jose Ortiz computed and compartmentalized all that in the first furlong of the Grade 1 Diana Stakes at Saratoga Race Course Saturday. “If … Read more

Week four. Back in the day, week four at Saratoga meant the curtain call. These days, it’s just getting started. The Red Sox snapped their winning streak, and The Special is back with its third of 20 issues this summer. Jose Ortiz takes you step by step, stride by stride in his Diana win with … Read more

The third week of the 2026 Saratoga Race Course meeting comes to a close Sunday with a 10-race card topped by a strong renewal of the Grade 3 Quick Call Stakes for 3-year-old turf sprinters. An overflow field of 14 entered the 5 ½-furlong feature, including an also-eligible and main track only runner. Cy Fair … Read more

Kathynmarissa, Grade 3 winner and $1.6 million earner with five wins. Segesta, a Grade 1 winner and fifth-generation homebred for racing royalty with $1.5 million on her scorecard. Portfolio Duration, Grade 1 winner who is a neck and a head from being undefeated in five lifetime starts. Dynamic Pricing, Grade 1 winner with five wins … Read more

Hey, look at that, the second edition of The Saratoga Special. Fresh off a win with And One More Time in the De La Rose, Mark Casse leads the trainer’s race while Flavien Prat has opened a big gap on perennial leader Irad Ortiz Jr. in the jockey’s scrum. Kathynmarissa and Portfolio Duration lead a … Read more

Week 3 of the 2026 Saratoga Race Course meeting rolls along Friday with a 10-race card topped by a competitive renewal of the $150,000 De La Rose Stakes for fillies and mares on the turf. The 1-mile De La Rose, restricted to 4-year-olds and up which have not won a graded stakes in 2024-25, attracted … Read more

Eerie enough out there for you? Wednesday morning dawned hot, dry and orange-ish. Someone blamed wildfires in Canada, but we’re not ruling out some sort of off-kilter damage to the space-time continuum given that Saratoga Race Course hosted races in June, started its regular meet July 3 and ran seven days before The Saratoga Special … Read more

And look at that. It’s Opening Day at Saratoga. At least at The Saratoga Special. We are back. The Special returns for its 26th season at Saratoga. The first of 20 issues this summer. The Jonathan Kiser, a steeplechase stakes in honor of a young kid and an old friend, kicks off Thursday’s card. The … Read more

Sunday brings the curtain down on Week 2 of the 2026 Saratoga Race Course meeting – or the way we see things, the final day of racing before the first edition of The Saratoga Special for the season. A nine-race card awaits horseplayers and racing fans and everything kicks into gear at 1:10 p.m. No … Read more

The second of 10 (!) Saturday cards at the 2026 Saratoga Race Course meeting arrives as we near the midpoint of July and rev up for the start of The Saratoga Special’s 26th publishing season. Saturday’s 11-race slate features a pair of stakes – the Grade 2, $250,000 Caress Stakes for fillies and mares sprinting … Read more