Chad Brown leads Chancer McPatrick to the Hopeful winner’s circle. (Janet Napolitano)
NYRA Concludes 2024 Campaign At Saratoga Race Course
+ Brown leading trainer at Saratoga meet, scores five on final day
+ Ortiz, Jr. paces all other riders
+ Klaravich Stables leading owner for seventh time
NYRA Press Office
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Four-time Eclipse Award-winning and perennial leading New York trainer Chad Brown claimed the training title at the 2024 Saratoga Race Course meet when posting 45 wins at the 39-day meeting that ran from July 11 through September 2.
Brown, 45, earned his seventh overall and fourth consecutive Spa training title, and his 32nd title at a New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) meeting. He posted a record of 175-45-28-23 and earnings of $5,848,233 at the meet, good for a win rate of 25.71 percent and in-the-money percentage of 54.86.
“My team has done an unbelievable job every day, and our clients provide us with so many talented horses to work with. My team really does all the work and put in so many hours and attention to detail for every entry,” Brown said. “In daily operations, they do a remarkable job. I’m so pleased and proud of them, and they’re very deserving to have had the meet they’ve had.”
Among Brown’s wins were 15 stakes triumphs, led by six Grade 1 conquests with Whitebeam [Diana], Domestic Product [H. Allen Jerkens], Raging Sea [Personal Ensign], Ways and Means [Test presented by Ticketmaster], Carl Spackler [FanDuel Fourstardave Handicap] and Chancer McPatrick [Hopeful].
“For highlights, it’s really the six Grade 1 wins, all of them,” said Brown. “We’ve had meets where we’ve won more races in total, but we’ve never had a meet where we’ve won six Grade 1s. It’s been really an unbelievable, really historic meet by any standards for our training operation, and I think it’s one that will be hard to be beat in the future by us or anybody.”
Brown’s other stakes wins came in the Grade 2 Flower Bowl [Idea Generation], Grade 2 Shuvee [Raging Sea], Grade 2 Glens Falls [McKulick], Grade 2 Lake Placid presented by Caesars Sportsbook [Grayosh], Grade 2 Ballston Spa [Beaute Cachee], Grade 3 Kelso [Carl Spackler], Grade 3 With Anticipation [Zulu Kingdom], Listed Curlin [Unmatched Wisdom] and Listed Bernard Baruch [Running Bee].
Across his stakes win, Brown’s horses won on dirt from distances ranging from 7-to-9 furlongs, and on turf from one mile to 1 1/2 miles, with ages ranging from 2-to-5.
Brown spoke of the diversity of his class of trainees and expressed his gratitude to his Hall of Fame mentor Bobby Frankel for his invaluable teachings.
“Luckily, I had a great mentor in Bobby Frankel, and we here can train any kind of horse. It was handed down from him to me, and from me to my team,” Brown said. “I’m so pleased for my team to showcase their talents to be able to get the most out of horses in every division – age, surface, distance.”
Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher and conditioner Mike Maker tied for second with 22 wins each.
Jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. successfully defended his title as Saratoga’s leading rider after registering 52 wins to best runner-up Flavien Prat [45 wins] and Dylan Davis and Tyler Gaffalione, who tied for third [36 wins]. Ortiz, Jr. earned his third consecutive Spa riding title, and his sixth overall after clinching additional titles in 2015, 2018, and 2020.
“It’s always special to win leading rider here,” said Ortiz, Jr., who is represented by agent Steve Rushing. “Thanks to everyone who helped me – trainers, owners, my agent – thank you.”
The 32-year-old native of Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico notched eight stakes scores at the meet, including graded stakes triumphs in the Grade 2 Glens Falls [McKulick], Grade 2 Saratoga Special [Showcase], Grade 3 Caress presented by Albany Med Health System [Dontlookbackatall] and Grade 3 Sanford [Mo Plex].
The five-time Eclipse Award-winning rider also enjoyed stakes wins in the Fasig-Tipton Lure [Film Star], Galway [Halina’s Forte], Funny Cide presented by Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital [Mo Plex] and Listed Bernard Baruch [Running Bee].
“Every single race here is special to me. Even a claiming race, no matter what, it feels good when you cross the wire at Saratoga,” Ortiz, Jr. said. “I don’t know how other people see it, but it’s really, really hard to win a title here with all these riders. I don’t want to say a name, because from 1 to 15, they’re all tough riders. We have the best trainers over here, best horses, great owners. It’s not easy to go out there every day and try to win a race, because everyone is trying to do the same thing, and they are really good, too.”
Along with all the superlatives and trips to the winner’s circle, Ortiz, Jr. said the admiration of the fans, especially the youngest of them, is what makes his success at the Spa even more meaningful.
“It’s very special,” Ortiz, Jr. said. “Without the kids, it wouldn’t be the same and it wouldn’t be fun. You give a little kid goggles, and they go crazy. It makes it special to see their faces.”
Ortiz, Jr. completed the meet with a record of 271-52-36-48 with earnings of $5,117,556, good for a win rate of 19.19 percent and in-the-money rate of 50.18 percent.
Flavien Prat, who finished second with 45 wins, enjoyed a tremendous meet, posting a record 18 overall stakes wins as well as a record 14 graded stakes wins for meet-leading total purse earnings of $6,610,757.
Seth Klarman’s Klaravich Stables earned their 28th owners’ title at a NYRA meeting, and seventh consecutive at the Spa. Each of their 18 wins came with horses trained by Brown.
Among Klaravich Stables’ victories at the meet were Grade 1 wins with homebreds Ways and Means in the Test and Domestic Product in the Allen Jerkens, along with Grade 2 wins with McKulick in the Glens Falls and Idea Generation in the Flower Bowl. Klarman also campaigns Curlin-winner Unmatched Wisdom.
Brown spoke volumes of his longtime client and expressed his appreciation for Klarman’s support and patience.
“He’s very deserving of it,” said Brown. “He’s clear every meet that his goal is not to be the leading owner. He just wants to develop good horses and do it the right way, putting the horse first and never taking any unnecessary chances with the horses. Putting the welfare of the horse first has been consistent since we started working together. For him to have this many stakes wins and end up as the leading owner doing it the right way with quality starts and quality horses, I think he’s a very deserving winner.”
Klaravich Stables completed the meet with a 61-18-10-6 record and $2,175,928 in earnings. Flying P Stable finished second with 14 wins while Repole Stable was third with 7 wins.
NYRA Concludes 2024 Campaign At Saratoga Race Course
The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) today announced that the 2024 summer meet at historic Saratoga Race Course generated more than $800 million in all-sources wagering handle and exceeded 1 million in paid attendance.
Handle from all sources eclipsed total wagering for the 2023 Saratoga meet despite the cancellation this summer of a full day of racing on Friday, Aug. 9 due to the remnants of Tropical Storm Debby.
All-sources handle for the 2024 summer meet totaled $803,806,964 with paid attendance of 1,051,092. Average daily handle for the 39-day meet was $20,610,435, reflecting an annual increase of 3.2 percent.
Prior to the 2024 summer meet, the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival was held at Saratoga Race Course for the first time in history due to the ongoing construction of a new Belmont Park. Records fell on both Belmont Stakes Day and DraftKings Travers Day with the latter responsible for $63,023,405 in all-sources handle while the former saw an all-time high in wagering for a non-Triple Crown year.
“Over the course of a four-day weekend in June and throughout our traditional summer meet in July and August, our fans embraced all that makes Saratoga so special,” said Dave O’Rourke, NYRA President & CEO. “We thank all our racing participants for their contribution to the summer meet as well as the local community, including city and county leaders, the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce, Downtown Business Association and Discover Saratoga, for their ongoing support of NYRA and Saratoga Race Course.”
Among the noteworthy highlights of the meet was the introduction of the NYRA Students of Thoroughbreds and Racing (STAR) program. As many as 850 youth participated in the inaugural program which provided them with behind-the-scenes access into the world of thoroughbred racing. NYRA STAR members experienced Saratoga through exclusive on-track events and educational opportunities, culminating in an end-of-season celebration on the final Sunday of the summer meet.
Saratoga Race Course, the surrounding communities and the many local attractions, including the Philadelphia Orchestra’s annual summer residency at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center, were showcased on a national stage thanks to the continuing partnership between NYRA and FOX Sports. FOX Saratoga Saturday returned for the second consecutive year and culminated its summer run on FOX with the DraftKings Travers on Aug. 24.
Saratoga Stats: 2024 vs. 2023
Note: 39 days of racing in 2024 vs. 40 in 2023
- All-sources handle: $803,806,964 vs. $799,229,288
- Average daily handle: $20,610,435 vs. $19,980,732 (+3.2%)
- Total on-track handle: $136,295,228 vs. $142,918,763
- Total paid attendance: 1,051,092 vs. 1,105,683
- Average daily paid attendance: 26,951 vs. 27,642 (-2.5%)
- Races off the turf: 45 vs. 65
- Total races: 412 (257 dirt and 155 turf) vs. 410 (270 dirt and 140 turf)
- Average field size: 7.8 vs. 7.6
Highlights of the 2024 summer meet at Saratoga Race Course
- All three reigning champions successfully defended their titles with Klaravich Stables returning as the meet’s leading owner; Chad Brown claiming the H. Allen Jerkens training title; and jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. winning the Angel Cordero, Jr. riding title.
- Fierceness became the 13th horse to capture both the Jim Dandy presented by Mohegan Sun and the DraftKings Travers, edging out three-time Grade 1-winning filly Thorpedo Anna in the thrilling 155th renewal of Saratoga’s premier Grade 1 event.
- NYRA completed work on a new residential building for the backstretch community at Saratoga Race Course. The 6,000 square-foot, 116-unit dormitory on the Oklahoma Training Track is the latest in a series of actions by Governor Kathy Hochul and NYRA to improve housing along the backstretch. In addition, NYRA is renovating and modernizing existing housing on both the Oklahoma and main track with new dormitory construction planned through 2025.
- NYRA unveiled sweeping renovations and upgrades to the lower level of the Clubhouse, highlighted by a reimagined Jim Dandy Bar, presented by Great Jones Distilling Co. The improvements included a new Clubhouse Grill and an expansive drinking rail that provides an unobstructed view of the paddock.
- NYRA continued to expand its highly popular Saratoga Breakfast and Breeding Farm tour to include newcomer Sugar Plum Farm which joined incumbents Old Tavern Farm and Song Hill Thoroughbreds. The program, which features Breakfast at Saratoga and a guided tour of a local breeding farm, was offered four days each week of the racing season.
- NYRA hosted first responders from across New York State on Thursday, July 25 and paid special tribute on Military Appreciation Day, Thursday, Aug. 22, to three New York Army National Guard soldiers from the Capital Region whose military helicopter crashed earlier this year, killing two and seriously injuring the third.
- NYRA hosted Special Olympics New York on Friday, Aug. 23, which conducted a special 50/50 raffle fundraiser that generated $14,110. The prize was split between Special Olympics New York programs and the winning ticket holder. NYRA also hosted 39 partners at its annual Community Booth which provides nonprofit organizations with a platform to raise awareness and funds for their programs and missions.
- Hockey and horses were the theme of two special events as Saratoga hosted a visit from the National Hockey League’s Stanley Cup on Saturday, Aug. 31, courtesy of St. Elias Stable and Florida Panthers principal owner Vincent “Vinnie” Viola. Saratoga also welcomed players and staff from the 2014 Union College Hockey men’s national championship team on Friday, July 19 in celebration of the 10th anniversary of the local college’s historic achievement.
- NYRA continued its annual partnership with the signature Taste NY program that featured small producers of spirits, wines and beers from across the state, showcasing and sampling their products to an enthusiastic audience within the Taste NY Pavilion every Thursday through Sunday during the meet.
Live racing resumes on Thursday, Sept. 13 during the Belmont at the Big A fall meet which runs through Sunday, Nov. 3. Due to the ongoing construction of the new Belmont Park, the fall meet will once again be conducted at Aqueduct Racetrack.
The 31-day meet offers a total of 50 stakes worth $10.35 million in total purses and will include four Grade 1 events and six Breeders’ Cup “Win and You’re In” qualifiers.
For more information, visit NYRA.com.
