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New York Post
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- New York Post
Breaking down every facet of upcoming Saratoga meet
With the new Belmont Park grandstand under construction, New York racing fans have been left with the Aqueduct fall meet, the Aqueduct winter meet, the Aqueduct spring meet, the Belmont at the Big A summer meet, the Belmont at the Big A fall meet and the Finger Lakes at the Big A meet. OK, maybe not that last one, but you get the point. Sure, the Belmont Stakes was run upstate as well as the short and sweet July 4th Racing Festival, but now we get a full 40 days as the Saratoga summer meet commences. Big days Got your calendar ready? The Diana is this Saturday, July 12. The Coaching Club American Oaks and the Vanderbilt on July 19. The Jim Dandy is July 26. Four Grade 1 races on Saturday, August 2 including the Whitney and Fourstardave. The Sword Dancer is Aug. 9. The Alabama is on Aug. 16. There are five Grade 1 races on Travers Day on Aug. 23, including the Forego and the Personal Ensign. The Spinaway is on Aug. 30, the Jockey Club Gold Cup is on Aug. 31 and the Hopeful is on closing day, Labor Day, September 1. It's all about the horses While Preakness winner Journalism may run in the Haskell at Monmouth Park, he still may ship north to challenge arch rival Sovereignty in the Travers. Mindframe, Fierceness, Sierra Leone, White Abarrio and Skippylongstocking make this year's edition of the Whitney a must-see. 5 Sovereignty won the Belmont Stakes at Saratoga Race Course last month and is being pointed to run in the Travers Stakes on Aug. 23. Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images Thorpedo Anna, the 2024 Horse of the Year, was defeated by Raging Sea in May. Thorpedo Anna will attempt to turn the tables when they meet in the Personal Ensign. Trainers Two words. Chad Brown. He ran away (with a little help from his four-legged friends) with the 2024 meet. Brown saddled 45 winners and it was a long way back to Todd Pletcher and Mike Maker who dead-heated for second with 22 winners. While Linda Rice (18) and Bill Mott (15) rounded out the top five, it was Mark Casse who had the higher win percentage (28.3 percent). 5 Chad Brown, who had the most wins at Saratoga in 2024, will be the favorite to win the 2025 meet. Jason Szenes for New York Post Riders up! Irad Ortiz Jr. visited the winners circle 52 times last summer but it was Flavien Prat who set records for most stakes wins (18) and graded stakes wins (14) at a Saratoga meet. Expect Luis Saez, Junior Alvarado, Manny Franco and Dylan Davis to get their fair share of wins and Jose Ortiz may give his brother, Irad, a run for his money. One thing for sure. You will both love and curse every rider before the meet is over. 5 Jockey Flavien Prat had a dominant 2024 Saratoga meet in stakes races. AP On the turf Chad Brown is a smart bet on dirt. And an even safer bet on the grass. Of Brown's 45 winners last summer, 26 were on the lawn. That number was three times larger than the rest of the conditioners. Baby races First impressions are important and there will be plenty of 2-year-olds making their career debuts at Saratoga over the 40-day meet. A look back shows Chad Brown, yes him again, led last year's standings with 10 juvenile wins, but only one more than the nine that Mark Casse trained. Casse's Ewing, a son of Knicks Go, slam-dunked his debut on July 5, winning by a dozen lengths and may reappear in the Hopeful later in the meet. Might as well jump 5 There are a couple of traditional steeplechase races at this Saratoga meet. AP Steeplechase racing has long been a staple of the Saratoga meet. Stakes on this year's schedule include the A.P. Smithwick Memorial on July 23 and the Jonathan Sheppard Memorial on Aug. 20. Freebies Giveaway days this summer: July 11: T-shirt July 20: Hawaiian shirt July 25: Blanket Aug. 8: Pennant Aug. 22: Tote bag Aug. 31: Saratoga quarter zip sweatshirt The forecast Likely more losers than winners but hopefully the weather will cooperate this season more than it has the past two years. 2023 was bad. 2024 was worse. Not only did the 40-day meet shrink to 39, but 45 turf races were taken off the grass and moved to the dirt/slop. Rooting for my picks and Mother Nature as well. 5 Spectators had to battle the rain on Belmont Stakes Day at Saratoga Race Course on June 7, 2025. Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images Turn on the races Fox Sports offers exclusive coverage of all races from Saratoga. If you don't want to pick your own winners, Greg Wolf, Laffit Pincay, Andy Serling, Richard Migliore, Jonathon Kinchen, Maggie Wolfendale, Acacia Clement and Sara Elbadwi will do it for you. That's enough handicappers to field a softball team. Did I forget anyone? Oh yes, Paul Lo Duca will bat cleanup. Post time is 1:10 p.m. May all the photo finishes go your way.
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Saratoga Season Passes Now Available
Saratoga Season Passes Now Available originally appeared on Paulick Report. The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) has announced that Saratoga season admission passes for the special July 4th Racing Festival and 2025 summer meet at historic Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., are now available for purchase at more than 175 Stewart's Shops throughout the greater Capital Region. Just in time for Father's Day, Saratoga season passes provide fans with general admission access to 44 days of thoroughbred racing this summer for the equivalent of approximately two dollars per day. Season passes are available for $90 at Stewart's Shops through Sunday, July 13, or for $95 online at Advertisement Passes include admission to the traditional 40-day summer meet, July 10 to Sept. 1, in addition to the July 4th Racing Festival, July 3 to 6, which has been relocated to Saratoga while construction continues on a new Belmont Park. Saratoga season passes provide access to the apron and the Rivers Casino Backyard which includes hundreds of free picnic tables available on a first-come, first-served basis. Meanwhile, NYRA Bets Gift Cards are also available for purchase at Stewart's Shops and make great gifts for Father's Day and any other occasion. A NYRA Bets Gift Card comes pre-loaded with $50 in funds for betting online with NYRA Bets, with no markup fees. Held for the first time at Saratoga Race Course, the July 4th Racing Festival serves as a prelude to the traditional summer meet and concludes the Belmont at the Big A spring/summer meet. It will feature seven graded stakes among 10 overall stakes. Highlighted by the 156th renewal of the Grade 1, $1.25 million DraftKings Travers on Aug. 23 and the G1, $1 million Whitney on Aug. 2, the 40-day summer meet will offer 18 G1 races as part of 64 stakes worth more than $20 million in total purses. Following the four-day opening week, racing will be conducted five days a week, Wednesdays through Sundays, apart from closing week, when the 2025 summer meet will conclude on Labor Day. This story was originally reported by Paulick Report on Jun 11, 2025, where it first appeared.
Hamilton Spectator
08-06-2025
- Sport
- Hamilton Spectator
George Kirby strikes out career-high 14, Mariners beat Angels 3-2 to snap their 5-game skid
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — George Kirby struck out a career-high 14 during seven innings of two-hit ball, and the Seattle Mariners snapped their five-game losing streak with a 3-2 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Sunday. Kirby (1-3) issued no walks while retiring both his first 11 and his final 10 batters. His strikeouts were the most by a Mariners pitcher since James Paxton had 16 in May 2018 , and he matched Miami's Max Meyer for the most strikeouts in a major league game this season. Donovan Solano drove in the go-ahead run in the fifth, and Randy Arozarena had an early RBI double among his three hits as the Mariners avoided a series sweep with their fourth win in 14 games. Taylor Ward hit a two-run homer in the fourth for the Halos, who struck out 18 times overall while losing for only the second time in six games. Andrés Muñoz earned his 18th save, returning from a week off and rebounding from back-to-back blown save opportunities in which he allowed his first earned runs of the entire season. Muñoz walked Jorge Soler leading off the ninth, but struck out Mike Trout to end it. Tyler Anderson (2-3) yielded eight hits with six strikeouts while pitching into the fifth inning of his ninth consecutive winless appearance. Arozarena hit a 345-foot single in the fifth when he failed to hustle out of the box, but he stole second and scored on Jorge Polanco's two-out single. Solano added another RBI single to chase Anderson. Key moment Trout was the Angels' first baserunner with a two-out single, and Ward immediately followed with his 18th homer. Kirby regrouped and struck out Chris Taylor with a perfect slider on the corner. Key stat Trout tied Rafael Palmeiro's major league record of 435 total bases against Seattle before scoring his 145th run against the Mariners to tie Rickey Henderson for that career record. Up next Yusei Kikuchi (1-5, 3.23 ERA) takes the Big A mound Monday night against the Athletics. Emerson Hancock (2-2, 5.19) pitches for the Mariners at Arizona. ___ AP MLB:
Fox Sports
08-06-2025
- Sport
- Fox Sports
George Kirby strikes out career-high 14, Mariners beat Angels 3-2 to snap their 5-game skid
Associated Press ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — George Kirby struck out a career-high 14 during seven innings of two-hit ball, and the Seattle Mariners snapped their five-game losing streak with a 3-2 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Sunday. Kirby (1-3) issued no walks while retiring both his first 11 and his final 10 batters. His strikeouts were the most by a Mariners pitcher since James Paxton had 16 in May 2018, and he matched Miami's Max Meyer for the most strikeouts in a major league game this season. Donovan Solano drove in the go-ahead run in the fifth, and Randy Arozarena had an early RBI double among his three hits as the Mariners avoided a series sweep with their fourth win in 14 games. Taylor Ward hit a two-run homer in the fourth for the Halos, who struck out 18 times overall while losing for only the second time in six games. Andres Munoz earned his 18th save, returning from a week off and rebounding from back-to-back blown save opportunities in which he allowed his first earned runs of the entire season. Muñoz walked Jorge Soler leading off the ninth, but struck out Mike Trout to end it. Tyler Anderson (2-3) yielded eight hits with six strikeouts while pitching into the fifth inning of his ninth consecutive winless appearance. Arozarena hit a 345-foot single in the fifth when he failed to hustle out of the box, but he stole second and scored on Jorge Polanco's two-out single. Solano added another RBI single to chase Anderson. Key moment Trout was the Angels' first baserunner with a two-out single, and Ward immediately followed with his 18th homer. Kirby regrouped and struck out Chris Taylor with a perfect slider on the corner. Key stat Trout tied Rafael Palmeiro's major league record of 435 total bases against Seattle before scoring his 145th run against the Mariners to tie Rickey Henderson for that career record. Up next Yusei Kikuchi (1-5, 3.23 ERA) takes the Big A mound Monday night against the Athletics. Emerson Hancock (2-2, 5.19) pitches for the Mariners at Arizona. ___ AP MLB: recommended
Yahoo
01-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Donegal Momentum Aims For Graded Breakthrough In Poker
Donegal Momentum Aims For Graded Breakthrough In Poker originally appeared on Paulick Report. Donegal Racing's Donegal Momentum looks to make the grade in Thursday's $300,000 Poker (G3), a one-mile inner turf test for older horses on Day 2 of the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival at Saratoga Race Course. Advertisement Trained by Tom Morley, the 4-year-old Uncle Mo dark bay has made three graded stakes attempts, his best finish a one-length third in the Hollywood Derby (G1) going nine furlongs in November at Del Mar. That effort capped a strong sophomore campaign highlighted by a two-length score in the one-mile turf Gio Ponti at Belmont at the Big A. 'The Poker was his second main target of the year after the Grade 1 Maker's Mark Mile at Keeneland which we opted to skip due to having to run against Carl Spackler on soft ground,' said Morley. 'The Poker has been our main focus for much of this year and since he came back as a 4-year-old.' Donegal Momentum returned for his 4-year-old season successfully when taking an about one-mile optional-claimer on March 6 at Fair Grounds. He subsequently misfired on the main track in the seven-furlong Grade 2 Carter ahead of a last-out half-length second to returning rival Sherlock's Jewel in a one-mile optional claimer on good turf May 8 at Belmont at the Big A. Last out, Donegal Momentum dueled with Big Everest on the front end through the opening half-mile and led into the final sixteenth before being run down by Sherlock's Jewel. Advertisement 'Race dynamics got him beat last time,' said Morley. 'I'm really looking forward to possibly getting this horse on a firm turf course. He has been plagued by rain for the past year, and has never actually run on a genuinely firm turf course other than California where one mile and an eighth was too far for him.' Hall of Famer Javier Castellano, who has piloted Donegal Momentum in all eight starts other than the Gio Ponti, returns to ride from post 8. Out of the stakes-placed Malibu Moon mare Moon Dash, Donegal Momentum was a $375,000 purchase at the 2022 Keeneland September Yearling Sale by Donegal Racing, who campaigned 2017 Poker winner Ballagh Rocks. Wharton Connell Racing's Kentucky homebred Sherlock's Jewel [post 6, Dylan Davis] entered his aforementioned score over Donegal Momentum from a similar closing victory in a one-mile optional-claimer in March at Gulfstream Park. Trained by Hall of Famer Shug McGaughey, the 5-year-old Lea gelding successfully shifted back to turf after a past campaign of four dirt efforts, including a second to multimillionaire Skippylongstocking in Tampa Bay Downs' Grade 3 Challenger. Advertisement 'He seems to be doing good,' said McGaughey. 'We decided to try dirt at Tampa and then in the stakes and he ran good. I think he favored the dirt course at Tampa, I'm not sure if that's something I'd try again, maybe an off-the-turf race, but he favors the turf.' Spendthrift Farm's multiple graded stakes winner Major Dude [post 4, Irad Ortiz Jr.] looks for his first win of 2025 in his fifth attempt. Trained by Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher, the 5-year-old Bolt d'Oro bay missed by a nose to next out graded-winner Fort Washington three starts back in the 1 1/16-mile Grade 3 Canadian Turf in March at Gulfstream Park. Most recently Major Dude was a two-length third in the one-mile Listed Opening Verse on May 1 at Churchill Downs. 'He's as consistent as they come. He's in good form, so we'll try again,' said Pletcher, who has won this event three times. 'He's a consummate pro. He shows up every time and comes out every morning ready to train. I think his ideal trip is to have a little pace to run at where you can cover him up. Unfortunately, he didn't get much pace at Churchill last time, which compromised his chances.' Major Dude holds a career record of 22-7-4-3 with in excess of $1.1 million in earnings, capturing the 2022 Grade 2 Pilgrim at Belmont at the Big A, the 2023 Grade 3 Kitten's Joy at Gulfstream and the Grade 2 Penn Mile at Penn National, as well as the Grade 2 Fort Lauderdale last year at Gulfstream. Advertisement Gary Barber, Wachtel Stable and Peter Deutsch's Grade 1-placed Filo Di Arianna [post 3, Jose Ortiz] is set for the second start of his 9-year-old season. Trained by Hall of Famer Mark Casse, the Grade 1-placed Drosselmeyer gelding was a pacesetting neck second to Emmanuel in this event in 2023. 'He's at the top of his game. He's just starting to get warmed up,' said Casse, who saddled Ice Chocolat to wire the past edition of the Poker. 'He's just a really good horse and he loves what he does. He's all racehorse.' The Brazilian-bred Filo Di Arianna, a four-time Grade 2-winner at Woodbine Racetrack at distances ranging from six furlongs to one mile, was second to Canadian Horse of the Year Patches O'Houlihan last out in the Thorncliffe sprinting 5 1/2 furlongs on Tapeta on May 4 there. Advertisement A relatively new face to watch out for is the French-bred Intellect [post 2, Flavien Prat] for five-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown. The 4-year-old Intello gelding was third in a 1 1/16-mile allowance on April 24 at Keeneland when making his stateside and barn debut. He rallied from 8th-of-12 to miss second by a nose. Intellect came from the care of Henri-Francois Devin, who sent him out to win the Listed Prix du Pont Neuf in front-running fashion last April at Longchamp. He is owned by Madaket Stables, Michael Dubb, and Steven Bouchey. Rounding out the field are dual graded stakes-placed Cameo Performance [post 1, Manny Franco], who is cross-entered in the Grade 3 Arlington on May 31 at Churchill Downs for trainer Brendan Walsh; Grade 3-placed Depiction [post 7, John Velazquez] for conditioner Cherie DeVaux; and Mischievous Angel [post 5, Paco Lopez] for trainer Jorge Abreu. Yo Daddy and Magnolia Midnight are entered for the main track-only. This story was originally reported by Paulick Report on May 31, 2025, where it first appeared.
