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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
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
The things I’ve learned at Saratoga… Do it early. It’s a long meet these days but it goes fast. Schedule it, make it happen. Early. Hey, John Panagot, let’s get that beer Sunday and talk about the days when you had to interview Bobby Frankel for The Special. Rich, crank up the boat and make … 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
Week 2 rolls along – it’s already Day 5 can you believe it? – with a 10-race card Friday topped by a strong renewal of the Grade 3 Victory Ride Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at 6 furlongs on the main track. A field of 10 entered the $225,000 Victory Ride including Grade 1 winners Tommy … Read more
The second week of the extended 2026 Saratoga Race Course meetings kicks off Thursday with a another nine-race card and a rare day without a stakes race here in upstate New York. How’s your bankroll faring after opening weekend? Fear not if it’s not up to par, there’s plenty of time to make up for … Read more
The first weekend of the 2026 Saratoga Race Course meeting comes to a close Sunday with a nine-race card – remember nine race cards? – topped by the inaugural running of the Grade 1 Leo O’Brien Handicap over jumps and the Grade 3 Kelso and Harvey Pack for older horses on the grass. Back to … Read more
