The first day of the 2021 Race Meet at Saratoga Racetrack on Thursday, July 15 produced a record Opening Day crowd of 27,760. When the gates opened at 7 AM it resembled “running of the bulls” in Pamplona, Spain. Opening Weekend (Thursday – Sunday) brought a record betting handle of more than $90 million. It’s clear people were anxious to return to the track to enjoy the best thoroughbred racing in the country!
We (Steve Bouchey and myself) were excited about being a small part of Opening Weekend. War Smoke, our 3 year old New York Bred colt ran second in Saturday’s first race. After breaking slowly from the gate and racing wide down the backstretch and through the stretch, War Smoke made a furious run to get up for second place, beaten by a head.
War Smoke in the saddling area
War Smoke warming up
Irad Ortiz, Jr. (2018, 2019, 2020 Eclipse Award Champion Jockey) rode War Smoke and shared his insights after the race. As the horses were being loaded into the starting gate the gate crew took several minutes loading a horse who didn’t want to cooperate. While War Smoke waited patiently, he was flat footed when the gate opened and spotted the field a few lengths which made all the difference at the finish. It was hard to be disappointed as it was War Smoke’s first career start and he will certainly learn from it. Hopefully War Smoke will have another opportunity to race before the Saratoga Meet concludes on Labor Day.
Irad Ortiz sporting the new Dorsman silks
Our (West Point Thoroughbreds, Woodford Racing, Bobby Flay, Siena Farm) 3 year old colt First Captain continues to train for his next start. While the specific race has not been determined, it looks like it’s shaping up to be the Curlin Stakes on Friday, July 30. The Curlin Stakes is a mile and an eighth going around two turns which will both (distance and two turns) be firsts for First Captain.
First Captain Saratoga Workout
First Caption After Workout
Interview with First Captain Exercise Rider Terry