The summer season of racing ended Monday on closing day at both Saratoga Race Course and the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club.
Jockey, trainer and owner titles had been decided prior to the end of the meets, but now the final numbers are in.
Topping the charts is Manny Franco, the 31-year-old jockey from Puerto Rico who claimed his first ever riding title at Saratoga. Franco won four Grade 1 stakes at the extended 45-day meet – the Christophe Clement Turf aboard Survie ($10.96), the Alabama with My Guns Loaded ($8.74), the Travers Stakes with Leading Change ($22.76) and the Hopeful Stakes aboard The Great Life ($7.14) on Sunday.
Franco clinched the title Saturday with a victory aboard Mashallah ($2.96) in the Prioress Stakes (G3) on Saturday. He closed out the meet with 73 victories, 49 seconds and 59 thirds, a winning rate of 19.7% and a top 3 finish rate of 48.9%.
The record for the usual 40-day meet was set in 2012, when retired jockey Ramon Dominguez totaled 68 wins.
“It feels unreal – I’m still in the sky,” said Franco, who closed out the meet with a final race victory aboard My Lil Army Girl ($10.10). “I work hard every day here and when you work hard, you see the result. We’ve been having a lot of good chances, good horses, and I’m always trying to get the most out of these opportunities.”
Chad Brown claimed his ninth trainer’s title with 42 wins, edging Linda Rice, who finished with 40 wins. Among Brown’s Grade 1 winners were Kathynmarissa in the Diana Stakes, Fully Subscribed in the Personal Ensign Stakes, Ways and Means in the Ballerina Stakes and My Guns Loaded in the Alabama Stakes.
“It’s very rewarding,” Brown said. “I just want to thank my team, they do most of the work, and all the jockeys that rode under tremendous pressure. This is the hardest race meet to ride at, and they really came through for me.”
Klaravich Stables, owned by Seth Klarman, won the owners title for the eighth time, thanks mostly to Brown. Among Klarman’s winners trained by Brown: The Ballerina (Ways and Means); the Personal Ensign (Fully Subscribed); and the Shuvee Stakes (G2) with Fully Subscribed.
The jockey race was tight until the final weekend. Flavien Prat was second with 67 wins and Jose Ortiz third with 66 wins. Prat chose to ride in Kentucky on Monday; Ortiz rode in Kentucky most days over the holiday weekend.
Another highlight of Franco’s sensational summer occurred Aug. 7, when he equaled a Saratoga single-day record for a jockey with six wins, topped by the Hall of Fame Stakes (G2) aboard Bottas.
At Del Mar, Hall of Famer Joel Rosario won his fourth riding title where the surf meets the turf. Rosario had 42 wins heading into Monday’s final day, while Juan Hernandez was at 35 wins and Doug O’Neill, a two-time Kentucky Derby winner, earned his seventh Del Mar summer meet trainer’s title (he had 27 wins to Phil D’Amato’s 16 heading into Monday). Reddam Racing had nine wins to Hronis Racing’s six wins entering Monday’s final card.
Richard Rosenblatt is an award-winning journalist and former Associated Press Horse Racing Editor. Currently, he serves as the news editor at US Racing, overseeing exclusive content from contributors worldwide.
