SARATOGA, NY -- Every sport has its palaces.
In the US, it’s baseball stadiums. Wrigley, Fenway. Maybe some “newer” spots, like Dodger Stadium. In Europe, we think of soccer stadiums: Santiago Bernabeu, Camp Nou, San Siro, Old Trafford.
Horse racing tracks tend to be old, and in many cases, largely unrenovated. Places we love - like Pimlico in Baltimore - haven’t been updated in many, many decades. Santa Anita in Arcadia is a beautiful spot, but mostly for its natural beauty: the view of the San Gabriel Mountains is unquestionably second-to-none amongst backdrops in sports.
Horse racing is running the summer’s best meet at one of those places currently: Saratoga. It has the distinction of being the oldest organized sporting venue in the US. Saratoga is certainly a beautiful spot, and what it lacks in beautiful backdrop it makes up for by not being in Queens.
New Yorkers love Saratoga. They love Belmont, too, but they really love the trip upstate to the Albany environs. If you plan to go, you know your hotel room will be nowhere near the track; that restaurants will be buzzing; and that everyone around will be talking horses. It’s not difficult to understand the enthusiasm.
The Saratoga meet is amongst the most important on the horse racing calendar. It includes a ton of high-level graded stakes that constantly draw the best fields in America. 41 Graded Stakes are run over the summer, on both dirt and turf, for horses ranging from two year-old, three year-old, and older horse races. The Travers Stakes, Saratoga’s “Dirt Derby,” is run every August near the end of the meet, and often helps determine who the three year-old of the year winner will be.
There are three such stakes this weekend, including the Grade 1 Diana. The Diana is amongst the most important turf races for older female horses, and the field simply never disappoints. This year’s 88th running of the race is no different: this field is stacked, period. Let’s meet those runners, and try to hit the late Pick 3.
Grade 1 Diana. 1 ⅛ miles, turf. Fillies and Mares 4+up. $500,000 purse.
1. Moira. 5/1. Jockey: Tyler Gaffalione. Trainer: Kevin Attard.
Moira is an interesting - if not frustrating - mare. She has run in incredibly quality company throughout her career, including all six of her starts last year in graded stakes. The problem? While she never finished worse than third, she only won one of her six starts. The good news about that win - it was at this distance, and at a place in Woodbine where turf racing is incredibly serious. She’s also coming into this race having last raced in November, quite the time off and quite the tough spot. I don’t quite know what to do with her, as she is a quality mare; but I’ll hold my nose and leave her out of my tickets this weekend.
COMMENT: Reluctant leave-out.
2. Coppice. 8/1. Jockey: Frankie Dettori. Trainer: Chad Brown.
There’s a joke in horse racing circles that goes something like “oh, I’m on the OTHER Chad Brown.” Trainer Chad Brown has *five* of the ten starters in this race. She has run well since moving to the US this year, finishing a tight second in the Grade 2 Distaff Mile at Churchill Downs, then part of a blanket finish in the Grade 1 Just A Game, run this year at Saratoga. Can she win here? Of course. Is she going to? Her best wins in Europe were a non-graded stakes and a handicap; I’ll let her beat me this weekend.
COMMENT: Reluctant leave-out.
3. Mission of Joy. 10/1. Jockey: John Velazquez. Trainer: Graham Motion.
Trainer Graham Motion is having a fine year on the East Coast, mostly based in Maryland and the Mid-Atlantic. Mission of Joy just about picked off the Grade 1 Just A Game last out, but is 0-for-3 this year. She nearly won a Grade 1 last year, as well, in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Keeneland. She’s a balanced runner that I think hits the board, and because of the connections, we’re likely to get a great price on Saturday.
COMMENT: Include in exactas, trifectas.
4. Didia. 7/2. Jockey: Jose Ortiz. Trainer: Ignacio Correas, IV.
Didia is the current Rodney Dangerfield of horse racing: she has won five or her last eight, and all of them at the highest levels. She won her last start - which was also at Saratoga - in the mile and three-sixteenths Grade 1 New York. She’s won in New York, California, Kentucky, Florida, and Virginia - all since 2022. She’s a cool horse, and I think she backs it up with a win here.
COMMENT: Most likely winner.
5. Gina Romantica. 8/1. Jockey: Manny Franco. Trainer: Chad Brown.
Gina has had a terrific career, amassing purses over $1.2M. She is usually good for one Grade 1 win per year - in 2023 it was the First Lady at Keeneland; in 2022 it was the Queen Elizabeth II, also at Keeneland. She last won at Saratoga in 2022 in a listed stakes; I’ll include her here, as I think she’s likely due.
COMMENT: Include.
6. Whitebeam. 4/1. Jockey: Flavien Prat. Trainer: Chad Brown.
Whitebeam is the returning champ, the winner of last year’s rendition of the Diana. She’s two of her last seven, along with three second-place finishes. Jockey Flavien Prat just had a three win day on Friday at Saratoga, so he’ll give her another terrific chance to win this race. She’ll try to sit just off the pace, likely set by Evvie Jets. If not, look for Prat to try to get the lead, and keep it.
COMMENT: Include.
7. Fluffy Socks. 15/1. Jockey: Joel Rosario. Trainer: Chad Brown.
Fluffy Socks won her last race in dominating fashion over soft-go at Pimlico. The conditions - and the competition - will be drastically different in this one. She’s a hard-knocking six year-old, and she owes racing fans absolutely nothing. Jockey Joel Rosario picks up the mount here after top jock Irad Ortiz, Jr. chose to ride Chili Flag; too many obstacles in this one for me.
COMMENT: Reluctant leave-out.
8. Neecie Marie. 12/1. Jockey: Luis Saez. Trainer: Robert Reid, Jr.
Neecie is an interesting one here, as she turned four years-old this year, and is doing her best running. Part of me thinks this could be her coming out party; part of me wonders if she’s up to another race like this. Last out, she finished right behind Didia for second in the G1 New York at Saratoga; this is a tough less distance, so she may love it. She only has one head-scratcher in her last seven starts; I think she has a legit shot in this one.
COMMENT: Include in exactas and trifectas.
9. Evvie Jets. 20/1. Jockey: Dylan Davis. Trainer: Martkan Kantarmaci.
It’s my best guess that the others in this race will be happy to let Evvie Jets get the lead, and then try to run her down - as they did last out in the Just A Game. My concern is that if she was run down in a mile race, what will happen if her opponents are given an extra eighth of a mile? My sense is she’s not built for nine furlongs, and we’ll see her lead for a while - then fade.
COMMENT: Leave-out.
10. Chili Flag. 9/2. Jockey: Irad Ortiz, Jr. Trainer: Chad Brown.
And then there’s Chili. She’s won three straight, all this calendar year, and all of them graded stakes. All of them have been classic Irad rides, as well: there’s almost no margin of error in any of her races. While she has won at slightly shorter distances, I really do think she’s more a miler; you can lose a lot of money betting against horses on the kind of streak she’s on - let’s do that in this one.
COMMENT: Reluctant leave-out.
Our Saratoga Play:
Late Pick 3 ticket, starts race 10: 4,5,6 / 1,8 / 1,2,6,11 $1 ticket = $24.
What’s Next:
Del Mar! We’ll head south to San Diego for Del Mar’s meet, which begins next weekend. We’ll have a play for Del Mar every Saturday that it’s open. See you then!