The Saratoga Race Course summer meet draws top-tier equines and their handlers, not just from inside New York but from all points of the map. Conditioners hailing from diverse locales set their sights on Saratoga with their finest steeds, elevating the competitive intensity for victories at the Spa beyond any other venue. And concerning the nation’s elite reinsmen, no other gathering in the country can rival the talent pool assembled in Saratoga’s jockey quarters. The distinction of claiming the leading rider title at Saratoga is more prestigious than any other.
Which conditioners and riders will emerge as frontrunners, accumulating wins for handicappers during the 2025 Saratoga season? Let’s delve into the specifics.
Leading Saratoga Trainers
Chad Brown and Linda Rice shared the spotlight as co-champions of the 2023 Saratoga training competition, each securing 35 triumphs. However, 2024 belonged entirely to Brown, who dominated the standings with an impressive 45 wins, clinching the meet title decisively. Prior to Rice’s stellar performance in 2023, Brown and Todd Pletcher had reigned supreme at the Spa for over a decade, starting in 2011. Brown previously secured Saratoga training titles in 2018-19 and again in 2021-22. Pletcher’s most recent meet victory occurred in 2020. He also triumphed in 2017 and consistently from 2011-2015, contributing to his impressive tally of 14 overall training titles at the Spa.
Consider backing Brown, Pletcher, and Rice’s horses, but exercise selective judgment, as indiscriminate betting will not yield profits. Focus on their prime opportunities. For Pletcher, this entails dirt races, especially those featuring 2-year-olds. Pletcher consistently outperformed other trainers for over a decade with juvenile winners until 2024, when his seven 2-year-old victories fell short of Brown’s leading 10. Brown excels in Saratoga turf routes, consistently topping the trainer ranks in both wins and stakes victories. He amassed a total of 26 turf race wins in 2024, surpassing any other trainer by a significant margin.
Rice’s success during this period largely stems from strong performances in dirt routes and turf sprints. During her co-championship season in 2023, Rice led all trainers in dirt wins with 29, followed by Pletcher with 21. In Saratoga turf races that same year, Brown dominated with 19 victories.
Examining current form among these leading stables, Brown and Rice jointly led all trainers at the spring/summer Belmont at the Big A meet, potentially foreshadowing another intense battle for the leading trainer title at Saratoga in 2025. Pletcher typically maintains a relatively low profile during the preceding meet, strategically preparing his stable with horses primed for success at Saratoga. This year is expected to follow the same pattern.
Saratoga Trainer Trends
Many other trainers will present lucrative betting opportunities at Saratoga. Mike Maker is known for his fast starts at Saratoga, so capitalize on him early. Maker tied for second with Pletcher in the 2024 trainer standings, securing 22 wins. He claimed 12 races at Saratoga in 2023, 17 wins in 2022, and 25 wins in 2021. Despite his consistent performance, Maker is frequently overlooked. His average win payout of $11.70 in 2023 was the highest among the top eight trainers at the meet.
Brad Cox, whose horses achieved a 14-for-54 record, 26% in 2024, has emerged as a consistent Spa threat, replicating his success from 2023 (14-for-51, 27%), 2022 (11-for-46, 24%), and 2021 (13-for-48, 27%). Cox’s victories primarily occur on the dirt, so limit your bets to the main track. His Spa turf percentages remain low.
After enduring several challenging years for bettors at the Spa, Mark Casse finally experienced a breakthrough season in 2024, winning with 15 of 53 starters for a 28% success rate. Which version of Casse will emerge this year, the successful or the struggling one? Only time will tell, but exercise caution during the initial weeks of the meet, as his wins tend to materialize in the latter half of the season or during his horses’ second or third starts of the meet. Norm Casse typically fields a limited number of starters at Saratoga, but he maximizes their potential. He achieved an impressive 7 wins from 12 starters in 2023 and 3 wins from 16 starters in 2024.
Additional trainers who rewarded bettors in 2024 and could potentially do so again in 2025 include Philip Bauer (6-for-17, 35% in 2024 after going 5-for-21, 24% in 2023 and 6-for-13, 46% in 2022), and Saffie Joseph Jr., who finally established himself as a force at Saratoga with a record of 11 wins from 35 starters for 31%. George Weaver secured 10 wins from 44 starters (23%) in 2023 and consistently ranks among the Spa’s top performers in turf sprints. He encountered significant misfortune in 2024, winning only 3 times but securing 12 second-place finishes, indicating that his starters still hit the exacta 30% of the time. Other trainers emerging from strong seasons in 2024 with fewer starters include John Ortiz (6-for-12, 50%), Al Stall Jr. (5-for-12, 42%), and Robert Falcone Jr. (5-for-16, 31%).
Steve Asmussen is coming off his least productive Saratoga season in recent memory (5-for-40, 12.5%) and demonstrates a downward trend at Saratoga since 2021, when he secured 19 wins. His subsequent performances include 13-for-49 (27%) in 2022 and 11-for-52 (21%) in 2023 before his decline to 12.5% last year. However, Asmussen continues to excel in stakes races at Saratoga, solidifying his strength in that particular area. Asmussen’s primary weakness at the Spa lies in turf races, where he has recorded a minuscule win percentage thus far this decade.
Trainers who endured disastrous seasons in 2024 include Wayne Potts (2-for-33, 6%), Rob Atras (1-for-25), Danny Gargan (1-for-22), John Terranova (1-for-28), Jena Antonucci (1-for-30), and Chris Englehart and James Ferraro, who both endured no wins from 28 and 35 starters, respectively.
Top Saratoga Jockeys
Irad Ortiz Jr. is the frontrunner to secure another Saratoga riding title in 2025. Either Irad or Jose Ortiz have dominated every Spa jockey competition since 2015, except for 2021, when Luis Saez claimed the title with 64 wins. Irad secured the 2024 title with 52 victories, narrowly defeating Flavien Prat who won 45 times (Prat topped all riders in purse earnings with $6,610,757). Irad also decisively won the 2023 meet title with 62 winners and the 2022 title with 55 wins.
Dylan Davis and Tyler Gaffalione (who is recovering from an injury and anticipates riding frequently at Ellis Park this summer) shared third place in 2024 with 36 winners, and Manny Franco finished fifth with 29 wins. Other jockeys who surpassed 20 wins at the meet in 2024 include Jose Ortiz (26 wins), Saez (24 wins), and Junior Alvarado (22 wins). Veteran John Velazquez remains a fixture in the Spa jock’s room. In 2024 he won 14 times from just 98 mounts for 14%.
Spa Jockey Angles
Back the top jockeys in their favored situations. At the 2024 summer Saratoga meet, Irad Ortiz Jr. led all jockeys in both dirt wins (32) and turf wins (20). On the main track, the next-leading winners were Prat with 27 wins and Gaffalione with 24 wins. On the grass, Prat followed with 18 wins, and Davis secured third place with 17 winners.
Irad Ortiz led all jockeys in juvenile race victories in 2024 with 13 wins aboard 2-year-olds. Davis also excelled in 2-year-old races with 10 winners. Two years prior, at the 2023 Saratoga meet, Irad Ortiz decisively led in 2-year-old race victories with 16 (24%). Franco with 9 wins and Gaffalione with 8 wins trailed as the next leading riders in 2-year-old races that season.
Regarding stakes races, 2024 marked a record-breaking year for Prat, and a significant portion of his success occurred at Saratoga. Prat secured 18 Spa stakes victories last year, boasting an impressive 38% win rate and a remarkable 79% in-the-money percentage for his stakes mounts.
Irad Ortiz led all jockeys in mounts aboard betting favorites with 83, resulting in the lowest average win payoff among all jockeys at the 2024 meet at $7.70. Dylan Davis emerged as the most profitable jockey for bettors among the top 10 riders during the 2024 season, with his 36 winners returning an average payoff of $16.80. Considering Davis’s average win payoff in 2023 was $18.90, there is a compelling reason to bet on Davis’s mounts in 2025. Luis Rivera Jr. led all riders with at least five winners in terms of average payoff in 2024. His eight winners had an average payoff of $24.90.
