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Brown leading trainer at Saratoga meet; Ortiz, Jr. paces all other riders

by Mary Eddy

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.

Live racing resumes Friday, September 13 at Aqueduct Racetrack for the start of the Belmont at the Big A fall meet. The 31-day meeting will feature 50 stakes worth $10.35 million and runs through Sunday, November 3. For the complete Belmont at the Big A stakes schedule, visit https://www.nyra.com/aqueduct/racing/stakes-schedu....

America’s Day at the Races will present daily coverage and analysis of Belmont at the Big A on the networks of FOX Sports. For the complete broadcast schedule, visit https://www.nyra.com/belmont/racing/tv-schedule.

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