Heading into Day 10 of the Saratoga meet, Jose Ortiz, despite having missed a big day of racing two Saturday’s ago, leads all jockeys with 12 wins, two more than Luis Saez, who missed this past Saturday for a trip to the Jersey Shore. He was well compensated.
There a little drop after Saez to the 7-win plateau, at present a triple dead heat among Javier Castellano, Jose Lezcano and brother Irad Jr.
It’s virtually the same story in the trainers’ ranks, the difference being that Chad Brown doesn’t miss too many dances and his rivals say he has too many bullets to fire. In any case, he leads the way with six winners, two more than Linda Rice.
Following Rice, there’s a seven-way tie among, Mark Casse, Steve Asmussen, Jeremiah Englehart, Danny Gargan, Mike Maker, Bill Mott and Todd Pletcher. The perception is that only the latter has gotten away slowly but all are tied at three.
The win percentage of favorites is about what it was last week at 32.5%, as favorites are 23 for 87.
Sunday was a good day for three riders with two, Jose Ortiz and Kendrick Carmouche, posting back-to-back doubles. So did Tyler Gaffalione, who added another winner in the finale, his first riding triple at the Spa ever. The young man from Davie is doin’ good work!
It’s still so very early in the game, with approximately three-quarters of the meet to go. All the momentum should be positive. I have to think that way; I bet on Thoroughbreds!
