Whitney Stakes

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.--Round three of the longest summer of racing in Saratoga starts Thursday with an 11-race program. Officially, the New York Racing Association designated Friday, July 3, as the opening day of the record 46-day Saratoga season. It was the earliest opening day in the 158 seasons at America's oldest track. A year ago, the racing over the Fourth of July weekend was considered the end of the Belmont-at-Aqueduct meet and Saratoga started four days later. However, with Aqueduct Racetrack closing for good on June 28 and with meet-ending...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - At one time this year, Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse thought Silent Tactic (Tacitus) was going to be a player in the Triple Crown. Then came the dreaded foot bruise. The Wednesday before the GI Kentucky Derby, Casse had to scratch Silent Tactic because of the bruise on the left front foot. The next step would be the GI Preakness Stakes, but Casse had to pull the plug on that as well because the foot still just wasn't right. Fast forward to now and Silent...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. -- The sting from last weekend's GI Stephen Foster Stakes is still felt throughout the Hall of Fame barn of trainer Bill Mott. But there is no chance that Mott and his crew are going to throw in the towel when it comes to 2025 Horse of the Year Sovereignty (Into Mischief). Godolphin's Sovereignty finished third in the five-horse Stephen Foster, beaten 5 1/4 lengths by Magnitude (Not This Time). He was also passed by stablemate Baeza (McKinzie) in the stretch on the sloppy track at Churchill...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY--The cell phone rang, and, on the other end, Mike Repole was rolling. "I've won the Alabama twice, I've won the Jim Dandy three times ... I have to pinch myself," Repole, his rat-a-tat-tat all-Queens accent working in overdrive, said from his summer home in New England. "I've won the Coaching Club (American Oaks) twice. I've won the Hopeful ... to win the Travers once in your life is one in a million. I've won it twice, so it's one in a billion!" And a pause. In the...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Just after 6:30 on a dreary, rainy Thursday morning, a 4-year-old gelding named Corruption (Medaglia d'Oro), with a long white blaze on his face, stuck his dark brown head out of his stall at Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse's barn on the Saratoga backstretch. Bright-eyed and inquisitive, he gobbled up a peppermint. If he could have spoken, he might have said, 'what's the big deal? I feel fine." About 15 1/2 hours prior, he wasn't. After winning Saratoga's fourth race on Wednesday and returning to...

FOX SARATOGA SATURDAY, featuring coverage of the Fourth of July Racing Festival and six consecutive Saturdays of racing from Saratoga, will air this summer on the FOX broadcast network. Coverage begins on Independence Day with coverage from 5-6 p.m. (all times EDT) of the $750,000 Grade I Belmont Derby and picks up with two hours of programing on Saturday, July 19, featuring the GI Coaching Club American Oaks. The GII Jim Dandy Stakes is the focal point of the three-hour broadcast (3-6 p.m.) on Saturday, July 26, followed by the...

Officials at the New York Racing Association (NYRA) have released a 64-strong stakes schedule for the 2025 summer meeting at Saratoga Race Course. The 40-day stand will kick off on Thursday, July 10 and will continue through Labor Day, Sept. 1. Over $20 million in prize money is to be offered across the added-money events, anchored by three seven-figure fixtures, the $1.25-million GI DraftKings Travers Stakes on Aug. 23; the $1-million GI Whitney Stakes on Aug. 2; and the $1-million GI Jockey Club Gold Cup on Aug. 31. The meet's...

A 12 3/4-length winner of a rare 10-furlong allowance with a gaudy 111 Beyer Speed Figure during the Belmont Stakes Festival at Saratoga June 7, Glassman Racing's Arthur's Ride (Tapit) was well-backed at odds of 6-1 in Saturday's GI Whitney Stakes at the Spa despite the presence of GI Met Mile winner National Treasure (Quality Road) and other, proven handicap horses. Making his stakes debut on top of everything else in the Breeders' Cup Classic 'Win and You're In' event, Arthur's Ride was intent on the lead, set a searching...

It's a Grade I bonanza Saturday afternoon at Saratoga Race Course, as the track plays host to a trio of elite-level races--short and long, turf and dirt. The richest of the three events is the $1-million Whitney Stakes, offering the winner a fees-paid berth into the GI Breeders' Cup Classic at Del Mar on the first Saturday of November. National Treasure (Quality Road) is the 9-5 favorite on David Aragona's morning line and can further tighten his grip on the handicap division with a victory. The $500,000 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga yearling...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.-A healthy field of 12 was entered Sunday for the 97th running of the $1-million GI Whitney Stakes, which will be run at Saratoga Race Course Saturday. National Treasure (Quality Road), from Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, will be the favorite as he is ranked as the top older horse in the country in the weekly NTRA poll. Evidently, he is not scaring anyone off. Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher has a trio of horses entered in Bright Future (Curlin), Charge It (Tapit) and Crupi (Curlin)....

SARATOGA SPINGS, N.Y. - It's 'Post Time' for the 97th running of the $1-million GI Whitney Stakes. Well, actually, the race is still a week away, but if you are trainer Brittany Russell, you're darn right it's Post Time. As in Post Time (Frosted), the 4-year-old colt that will make a return trip to Saratoga Race Course. Last month, Post Time, owned by Hillwood Stable, LLC, won the race for second in the GI Metropolitan Handicap. Post Time beat Hoist the Gold (Mineshaft) by a neck. No one was going...

Thoroughbred After Alliance will work to advance its initiatives at Saratoga in August, with a presence both at the racetrack for the GI Whitney Stakes weekend, as well as at the sales pavilion for both Fasig-Tipton Saratoga yearling sales. The TAA will be present at the New York Racing Association's  Community Outreach Booth on both Aug. 3 and 4. Patrons and race fans can visit to learn about accredited aftercare. Branded merchandise will also be available at the booth in exchange for a donation, including a limited-edition Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance 'Saratoga'...