Saratoga Report #6

Three Stars of the Week

– 1st Star: V. E. Day (KY) – I was there in person when V. E. Day won the Curlin Stakes, and I really didn’t give him much of a thought after that race.  It was a three way photo that day with none of three running what I’d call a great race.  Fast forward four weeks later and he’s winning the Travers…that’s horse racing!  It’s obvious this horse has a nose for the wire as he’s won four straight races by a total of 3 lengths!  If he can keep to his recent winning ways he’ll have a shot to become the best 3 year old on the east coast.

– 2nd Star: Artemis Agrotera (NY) – This was an eye catching performance and on any other weekend she would be the number one star.  She made the Ballerina Stakes her second grade 1 win, and you would think she’d be one of the few favorites for the Breeders Cup Filly and Mare Sprint now.  It was nice to see former champion My Miss Aurelia run well in this one, but she was absolutely no match for Artemis Agrotera.

– 3rd Star: The Big Beast (MD) – The big horse with the giant strides was just able to get up in time to win the King’s Bishop.  As well as he ran in that race, he actually could have taken a step backwards off his last huge effort last time out and STILL won the race.  He’s certainly moving up the ranks as on of the top sprinters in America, and could get even better with each race.

Flop of the Week

– Bayern (KY) – Once again a Haskell winner came to the Spa as the favorite, and once again they failed badly.  Bayern folded up shop early in the stretch, and faded to finish last in Travers on Saturday.  The rumors have been flying about whether it was the distance or the 72 hour security that made Bayern bounce over the moon…I guess we’ll never know.  The “Bayern horse” twitter account has been quiet since the loss, which is probably a welcoming to all that follow him.

Trainer Standings

Rank	Trainer Name	Sts	1st	2nd	3rd	Total $	Per Start $	Win%	Top3	Top3%
1	Todd A. Pletcher	109	22	23	12	$2,390,688	$NaN	20%	57	52%
2	Chad C. Brown	80	18	12	13	$1,473,484	$NaN	23%	43	54%
3	William I. Mott	68	12	11	9	$1,664,659	$NaN	18%	32	47%
4	H. Graham Motion	58	10	7	7	$1,132,687	$NaN	17%	24	41%
5	James A. Jerkens	23	9	4	2	$1,805,454	$NaN	39%	15	65%
5	Rudy R. Rodriguez	60	9	8	11	$527,769	$NaN	15%	28	47%
5	Bruce R. Brown	53	9	2	14	$514,720	$NaN	17%	25	47%
5	Bruce N. Levine	35	9	5	4	$463,003	$NaN	26%	18	51%
9	Kiaran P. McLaughlin	39	8	8	4	$920,467	$NaN	21%	20	51%
9	Claude R. McGaughey III	39	8	4	6	$854,531	$NaN	21%	18	46%
9	Gary C. Contessa	74	8	11	8	$603,863	$NaN	11%	27	36%
9	George Weaver	41	8	4	8	$507,750	$NaN	20%	20	49%
9	Michael J. Maker	40	8	6	5	$458,812	$NaN	20%	19	48%

Jockey Standings

Rank	Jockey Name	Sts	1st	2nd	3rd	Total $	Per Start $	Win%	Top3	Top3%
1	Javier Castellano	197	50	32	28	$4,556,361	$NaN	25%	110	56%
2	Irad Ortiz, Jr.	214	45	37	27	$3,943,924	$NaN	21%	109	51%
3	John R. Velazquez	181	30	37	21	$3,301,679	$NaN	17%	88	49%
3	Joel Rosario	171	30	22	29	$3,085,985	$NaN	18%	81	47%
5	Jose L. Ortiz	179	28	16	24	$2,148,225	$NaN	16%	68	38%
6	Rajiv Maragh	125	19	18	19	$2,544,768	$NaN	15%	56	45%
7	Cornelio H. Velasquez	100	16	11	10	$1,181,741	$NaN	16%	37	37%
8	Junior Alvarado	117	15	23	13	$1,944,727	$NaN	13%	51	44%
9	Luis Saez	137	14	20	12	$1,540,426	$NaN	10%	46	34%
10	Jose Lezcano	112	13	16	18	$1,378,610	$NaN	12%	47	42%
10	Rosie Napravnik	81	13	8	15	$1,084,904	$NaN	16%	36	44%
10	Manuel Franco	119	13	13	13	$841,685	$NaN	11%	39	33%

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