Thursday’s Saratoga picks – July 9

New York-breds take center stage Sunday with the annual Saratoga Showcase Day program at Saratoga Race Course. The six-stakes card puts a cap on Travers Week and the seventh week of the Saratoga meet. The entry box overflowed in some races, and came up a little light in others. Either way it’s a day to … Read more

Travers Day. We made it. Sixty-four (64) pages of previews, recaps, columns and so on. Saratoga Race Course hosts five Grade 1 stakes. We look at them all. Travers: Forte and the classic winners clash in the meet’s signature race. Forego: Katie Davis gets a chance to ride her first Grade 1. Jerkens: Canterbury shipper … Read more

Travers Day is almost here, but first a 10-race card topped by a stellar edition of the Grade 1 Personal Ensign Stakes Friday at Saratoga Race Course. Nest, Clairiere and Secret Oath headline the 9-furlong Personal Ensign, which also attracted Delaware Handicap winner Idiomatic. The $500,000 stakes for fillies mares goes as the ninth race … Read more

Week 7 rolls on – and inches closer to Travers Day – with a 10-race card Thursday topped by the Grade 2 Ballston Spa Stakes for fillies and mares on the grass. The $300,000 Ballston Spa looks like another showcase for trainer Chad Brown’s deep base of distaff grass runners, with Technical Analysis, Consumer Spending, … Read more

Randomized puts everybody on the back foot in the Grade 1 Alabama and runs away with the victory for Klaravich Stable and trainer Chad Brown. In Saturday’s Lake Placid, the Brown-trained Aspray kicks away late. We take a Fasig-Tipton Stable Tour with Danny Gargan, preview this week’s stakes action from the Grade 1 Jonathan Sheppard … Read more

Week 6 and Alabama Weekend come to a close Sunday with a 10-race card topped by the $150,000 Bolton Landing Stakes for 2-year-old fillies on the grass. The 5 1/2-furlong Bolton Landing drew a field of six and goes early on the card, as the fourth race with a post time of 2:52 p.m. so … Read more

Alabama Day. Wet Paint, heroine of the Coaching Club American Oaks a month ago, looks for her second Grade 1 win of the meet for Godolphin and trainer Brad Cox. She faces off with Sacred Wish, Gambling Girl and others in the historic mile-and-a-quarter stakes. The Saturday card includes the Lake Placid for 3-year-old fillies … Read more

The weekend arrives and another loaded 10-race card at Saratoga Race Course to set the stage for a big Saturday featuring the Alabama Stakes for 3-year-old fillies. The $150,000 Skidmore Stakes going 5 ½ furlongs on the turf highlights Friday’s card, as the eighth race at 4:58 p.m. An overflow field was entered, relegating a … Read more

Week 6 of the 2023 Saratoga Race Course meeting rolls and a 10-race card featuring the Rick Violette Stakes and the third annual New York Thoroughbred Aftercare Day await horseplayers and fans Thursday. The Rick Violette, named for the trailblazing horsemen’s advocate, aftercare innovator and outstanding trainer, goes as the ninth at 5:46 p.m. A … Read more

That’s two. Turf veteran Casa Creed digs in late to catch Annapolis and win a second Fourstardave and second graded stakes at Saratoga 2023. Total dude. Two-year-old Rhyme Schemes delivers in the Saratoga Special (the race) for trainer Norm Casse, who is thinking Hopeful. We take a Fasig-Tipton Stable Tour with Tom Amoss, catch up … Read more