The summer season at Saratoga Race Course enters Week 7 of its 10-week, 46-day meet, and the races within the races -- for leading jockey and trainer -- are being hotly contested.
Jose Ortiz, enjoying perhaps the best year of his career with wins in the Kentucky Derby (G1) and Belmont Stakes (G1) aboard Golden Tempo, tops the jockey standings with 40 victories.
Flavien Prat is right behind with 38 wins, followed by Manny Franco (34) and Irad Ortiz, Jr. (30). Both Irad Ortiz and Franco soared into contention recently after each posted six-win days – matching a meet record for victories on a single card.
In the trainer’s race, Chad Brown is on top with 20 wins, with Linda Rice and Brad Cox next at 15 apiece and Todd Pletcher with 14.
For handicappers, note that Jose Ortiz has finished in the top 3 in 55% of his 173 starts, with 31 seconds and 24 thirds to go with his 40 wins. Among his victories: the Diana Stakes (G1) aboard Kathynmarissa, the Saratoga Special (G2) with Twinkle Town and the Kelso Stakes (G3) with Mi Bago. His average win payoff is $10.10 on a $2 wager.
Prat’s return rate on a $2 win bet is $7.70, as 20 of his wins have come aboard the favorite. Franco’s average win payoff is $12.
While Jose Ortiz is looking for his fourth Saratoga riding title (he won in 2016, 2017 and 2019), Prat is seeking his first. He has a top-3 finish rate of 53% from his 186 starts. Irad Ortiz, Jose’s older brother, has won seven Spa riding titles (2015, 2018, 2020, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025).
Irad Ortiz missed the first six days of the meet while serving a suspension and missed parts of the Aug. 8-9 cards after rolling an ankle in a pre-race incident.
Brown, who grew up near Saratoga Springs, New York, in Mechanicville, is after his ninth Spa training title. Of his 112 starters through Aug. 10, 56% have finished in the top 3 – 20 wins, 21 seconds and 22 thirds.
Rice, who won the Saratoga training title in 2009 and became the first female conditioner to do so at a major U.S. track, also tied for the Spa title with Brown in 2023.
Cox, one of the nation’s top trainers, is seeking his first Saratoga meet title. Pletcher, who got off to a slow start, came up with five winners on the Aug. 1 card, including Renegade in the Jim Dandy Stakes (G1), to move into contention for his 14th Spa training title.
There are still 21 racing dates to go, so anything can happen, but it sure looks like the leading jockey and trainer races will be decided in the final days of the meet, which ends on Labor Day, Sept. 7.
The writing team at US Racing is comprised of both full-time and part-time contributors with expertise in various aspects of the Sport of Kings.
