Saratoga Report #4

Three Stars of the Week

– 1st Star: Seek Again (KY) – How much the best was this horse on Saturday in the Fourstardave?  He was trapped on the inside the entire stretch with nowhere to go, was check hard, then somehow finally found a way through on the rail to win by a neck.  It was one of the most relentless stretch runs I’ve seen in some time, and give him his second graded stakes win this year.  Obviously the question now is can he beat Wise Dan…the gap may be narrowing.

– 2nd Star: Cavorting (KY) – I Spent It probably got more post race hype, but lets be clear to point out that Cavorting ran the Adirondack in a faster time than I Spent It ran the Saratoga Special.  You could tell after her maiden win that she was going to be something special, but her Adirondack win was even better considering the star filled field she beat.  Look for her to go straight to Grade 1 company next time out, as she’s well on her way to the Breeders Cup.

– 3rd Star: I Spent It (KY) – What a huge effort it was for I Spent It in the Saratoga Special.  While looking completely trapped on the inside he was finally able to make his way through on the rail and run away to an easy victory.  Perhaps the second place finisher Mr. Z never saw him come through on the inside, but you have to give credit to the young horse for having the guts to go inside horses in only his second start.  The sky could be the limit as this horse will stretch out well.

Flop of the Week

– Silver Max (KY) – After a huge 2014 debut race from him, he regressed big time on Saturday in the Fourstardave.  Like normal, Silver Max went right to the front only this time he quickly faded to sixth in the stretch instead of going wire to wire for the win.  His opening fractions were solid and he did have some pressure on the turn, but still you expected him to have a little left down the stretch  This was clearly a bounce.

Trainer Standings

Rank	Trainer Name	Sts	1st	2nd	3rd	Total $	Per Start $	Win%	Top3	Top3%
1	Todd A. Pletcher	71	19	14	8	$1,573,862	$NaN	27%	41	58%
2	Chad C. Brown	49	10	10	10	$906,120	$NaN	20%	30	61%
3	William I. Mott	39	8	5	5	$853,328	$NaN	21%	18	46%
4	H. Graham Motion	41	7	6	6	$663,897	$NaN	17%	19	46%
4	Michael J. Maker	30	7	5	3	$403,956	$NaN	23%	15	50%
6	Linda Rice	34	6	3	3	$576,893	$NaN	18%	12	35%
6	George Weaver	27	6	3	6	$365,948	$NaN	22%	15	56%
6	Rudy R. Rodriguez	40	6	6	8	$356,572	$NaN	15%	20	50%
9	Anthony W. Dutrow	17	5	2	1	$614,583	$NaN	29%	8	47%
9	James A. Jerkens	15	5	1	2	$607,104	$NaN	33%	8	53%
9	Claude R. McGaughey III	25	5	2	5	$409,183	$NaN	20%	12	48%
9	Wesley A. Ward	28	5	4	2	$310,357	$NaN	18%	11	39%
9	Michael E. Hushion	22	5	3	1	$307,085	$NaN	23%	9	41%
9	Gary C. Contessa	46	5	4	7	$300,097	$NaN	11%	16	35%

Jockey Standings

Rank	Jockey Name	Sts	1st	2nd	3rd	Total $	Per Start $	Win%	Top3	Top3%
1	Javier Castellano	131	35	22	18	$2,652,516	$NaN	27%	75	57%
2	Irad Ortiz, Jr.	134	23	27	17	$2,467,467	$NaN	17%	67	50%
3	John R. Velazquez	122	20	22	16	$1,734,552	$NaN	16%	58	48%
4	Joel Rosario	109	18	13	18	$1,795,754	$NaN	17%	49	45%
4	Jose L. Ortiz	114	18	11	17	$1,186,864	$NaN	16%	46	40%
6	Cornelio H. Velasquez	60	12	5	6	$760,570	$NaN	20%	23	38%
7	Luis Saez	96	11	14	12	$1,238,756	$NaN	11%	37	39%
8	Junior Alvarado	67	10	13	5	$1,428,463	$NaN	15%	28	42%
8	Rajiv Maragh	75	10	8	12	$1,048,099	$NaN	13%	30	40%
10	Jose Lezcano	77	9	11	13	$759,792	$NaN	12%	33	43%

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