The Post’s Vic Cangialosi explains how to make a little money at the Spa as the 147th summer meet begins Friday at Saratoga Race Course.
New year, but the same rules apply at Saratoga. You don’t pull the mask off ol’ Lone Ranger, and you don’t mess around with Mr. Pletcher.
New York’s finest, as well as one of the country’s perennial leaders, Todd Pletcher just wrapped another Belmont title last week and will be taking aim at a sixth straight at the Spa, a 12th overall. Chad Brown, hugely successful but second best over the past three years, will attempt to narrow the gap once again. It was a long way back to Bill Mott last year. Consistent for decades, he’s bringing a very capable fleet upstate. The percentage leader in the summer of ’14 was James Jerkens, who scored nine times from 28 starts, winning 32 percent of the time.
When they jump the rail and move to the turf course, the game changes. Chad Brown, who excels on the lawn, led the way last year — winning 18 times at a 28 percent clip. Michael Maker, the Kentucky-based handler, came in second with 11 winners. And Pletcher, not exactly reduced to a mere mortal, appeared seven times in the winners’ circle.
Glaring differences when handicapping routes versus sprints. Kiaran McLaughlin was victorious 27 percent of the time last year in the sprint category. Both Graeme Motion and Pletcher came in at 22 percent. A drastically different picture was painted moving two turns though as local favorite Bruce Levine won at an eye-popping 38 percent rate. Chad Browne was second based on efficiency, while Rudy Rodriguez and the ever-present Pletcher finished tied at 21 percent.
Simply stated: If jockey Javier Castellano is in the race, he must be considered. He, along with Hall of Famer John Velazquez, are Pletcher’s go-to guys, providing the trainer with quite a 1-2 punch.
Narrowly defeating Irad Ortiz in the just-concluded Belmont meet, Castellano was aboard the most winners at ’Toga in 2013 and ’14. Joel Rosario, Irad as well as his brother Jose Ortiz (who has one of the better clocks in his head for rating on the lead) provide the greatest threat to putting an end to Castellano’s dominance.
If you enjoy the jumpers, there will be at least one, if not two, scheduled weekly. I’ll stop there, as I had exactly one steeplechase winner a summer ago.
Every Saturday during the meet there will be a guaranteed Pick Six payout of $1 million. But the competition is fierce at ’Toga, so unless you’ve had an extra bowl of Lucky Charms that morning, it’s best not to venture there. There are plenty of “sweet surprises” playing exactas, doubles and trifectas. As the old OTB slogan used to read, “Bet with your head, not over it.”