The Saratoga summer racing season is roughly at its halfway point, so this seems like a good time to take stock of some hot and cold jockeys and trainers so far this season as a more up-to-date supplement to the ABR Saratoga jockey and trainer trends posted at the start of the meet.

Saratoga Jockeys: The Big Four and the Rest

As a surprise to no one, the jockey standings this season at Saratoga mostly have been dominated by Irad Ortiz Jr., Jose Ortiz, Manny Franco, and Flavien Prat, who have put on quite an impressive display so far to lead all riders at the meet. After missing about a week on suspension at the start of the meet, Irad Ortiz has been a man on a mission this summer at The Spa. Irad is already up to fourth in the standings with 30 wins from only 126 mounts so far, giving him an impressive win percentage of 24%. Irad has been gaining fast behind the leading riders Jose Ortiz (40 wins, 23%), Prat (38 wins, 20%), and Franco (34 wins, 18%), and an interesting four-way battle for the jockey title is shaping up for the rest of the season.

For handicappers, it has become hard to exclude any of the top four riders from your wagers because they are winning so many of the races, but purely from a gambling standpoint, you have to look past the trio of Prat, Ortiz, and Ortiz on some level if you are going to make any money. The average win payoffs for Prat ($7.70 and 20 wins aboard favorites), Jose Ortiz ($10.10 with 12 wins aboard favorites), and Irad Ortiz ($7.30, 18 wins aboard favorites) are among the lowest at the meet. Franco, who has been the leading rider at four of the last five NYRA meets dating back to last year, is the best bet amongst the leading group of jockeys because his 34 wins have come with a much higher average win payoff of $12.

Ricardo Santana Jr. celebrates a win. (Eclipse Sportswire)

The jockeys at the meet currently offering bettors the most value are Franco, Ricardo Santana Jr. and Tyler Gaffalione. Santana is coming off a terrific Spa season in 2025 and got off to a good start at the current meet with 18 wins from his first 162 starters (11%) with an average win payoff of $21.10, meaning that bettors are really missing the boat on his winners. Gaffalione skipped last year’s Spa meet but he’s made an impactful return to Saratoga this season with 16 wins from 104 mounts (15%) with a very good average win payoff of $15.20.

The jockey off to a shockingly slow start at Saratoga this season has been Luis Saez, a former leading rider at Saratoga back in 2021. So Far, Saez has ridden just six winers from 68 starters for 9%. Others struggling to find live mounts have included Dylan Davis (10 wins, 8%), Edgard Zayas (4 wins, 5%), Jaime Rodriguez (8 wins, 6%), and Christopher Elliott (4 wins, 6%). Note that in Zayas' case, his average win payoff has been $25.20.

Bet the best riders in their best spots. Jose Ortiz leads all jockeys with 21 winners in dirt races, with Irad Ortiz and Franco right behind with 18 dirt winners. In turf races, Prat is the leading rider in wins at this point with 22 grass victories. Only Jose Ortiz is close with 19 grass wins so far. Franco is next with 16 grass wins and Irad is moving up the list fast with 12. Junior Alvarado has 10 overall wins (11%) and all but two of those has been on the dirt.

Prat, who already holds the record for most stakes wins in a single season at Saratoga, leads all jockeys in stakes wins with seven.

Prat, Gaffalione, and Jose Ortiz lead all riders aboard 2-year-old winners with six each, followed closely by Irad Ortiz and Franco with five.

Spa 2026 Trainer Trends

The Saratoga 2026 trainer’s standings have been topped so far by Chad Brown in terms of winners and Brad Cox in terms of win percentage. Brown leads all trainers with 20 wins (18%) the first half of the meet. Cox has 15 winners but a much higher 27% winning percentage with his first 55 starters at the meet. Brown leads all trainers in turf wins with 14 and the only trainer even close in that department is Miguel Clement with 10 turf wins. Todd Pletcher, who just won his 6,000th career race as a trainer, sits fourth in the overall standings with 14 wins including seven apiece on dirt and turf. Pletcher got off to a slow start at Saratoga but has been much better of late, highlighted by a record-tying five-win day on Aug. 1. Linda Rice has heated up after a slow start and leads all trainers in dirt wins with 13. Steve Asmussen has nine wins overall with seven of those on the dirt.

Mark Casse (Walter Wlodarczyk/NYRA)

It’s usually not a bad bet to put your money on Brown or Cox or Asmussen, but you will likely have to settle for low odds if you do. Brown’s average winner is paying $6.40 while Cox’s is $7.70. Asmussen’s average winner has paid $9.30. On the better payoff end of the spectrum, Pletcher’s winners have paid a healthy $10.80 on average.

Other barns off to a good start at The Spa this season, in terms of wins and/or win percentage, include Mark Casse (9-for-51, 18%), Mike Maker (7-for-37, 19%), the hot starting Horacio DePaz (8-for-27, 30%), and Rick Dutrow Jr. (4-for-18 wins and 7-of-18 in the exacta). DePaz has been particularly friendly to his backers with an average win payoff of $19. Be aware that Maker usually gets off to hot starts at Saratoga and tails off the second half as he gears up for Kentucky Downs.

Here are some other statistical tidbits so far. All but two of Chad Brown’s 20 winners have been in routes. He’s 2-for-23 in sprints. Miguel Clement is 10-for-47 on the turf but 0-for-10 on the dirt.

Cox, Casse, and Pletcher lead all trainers in 2-year-old winners with four, followed closely by Asmussen with three and De Paz, who is 3-for-3 with his 2-year-olds.

Brown leads trainers with four stakes wins with Casse right behind with three.

Trainers off to forgettable starts the first half of the Saratoga season include some big names like Bill Mott, who won the Whitney with Sovereignty but overall is 5-for-56, 9% including 0-for-20 on the grass. Wesley Ward is 2-for-26, 8%, with no wins on grass and none in routes. Saffie Joseph Jr. is 1-for-30! Other trainers struggling early in the meet include Jena Antonucci (1-for-24), David Donk (1-for-27), Rudy Rodriguez (1-for-35), and James Ferraro (0-for-23).