West Saratoga

West Saratoga made his career debut in a 2-year-old maiden race at Keeneland on April 7, 2023 and it took him five starts to get his maiden victory, which finally came in a one mile dirt race at Ellis Park on Aug. 5, when he went wire-to-wire to graduate by 1 1/4 lengths over a 10-horse field.

West Saratoga had improved going long and the connections chose a stakes race for West Saratoga's next start in the Grade 3 $300,000 Iroquois Stakes at Churchill Downs on Sept. 16. Sent off as a 12-1 longshot in the Iroquois, West Saratoga sat mid-pack in an eight-horse field and worked his way up to striking position at the top of the stretch and then was able to pass the front runners en route to a 1 3/4-length victory in a one-mile winning time of 1:37.28. The Iroquois Stakes was the first official race on the road to the 2024 Kentucky Derby and with his victory, West Saratoga earned 10 qualifying points. West Saratoga later concluded his juvenile campaign with a fifth-place finish in the Grade 1 Breeders' Futurity Oct. 7 at Keeneland.

West Saratoga returned on Jan. 13, 2024, for the first start of his 3-year-old season and finished second behind a runaway winner in the $50,000 Pasco Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs. West Saratoga then tried his hand against graded stakes competition once again in the Grade 3 $250,000 Sam F. Davis Stakes at Tampa on Feb. 10 and finished third. The Sam F. Davis was a points race on the Road to the 2024 Kentucky Derby and with his show finish, West Saratoga earned another six qualifying Derby points.

West Saratoga made his next start in the Grade 3 $700,000 Jeff Ruby Steaks on the all-weather surface at Turfway Park going 1 1/8 miles on March 23. In the Jeff Ruby, West Saratoga stalked the pace mid-pack and then moved up in the stretch at 36.25-1 odds and won a five-horse photo finish for second place in the 10-horse field while no threat to the winner. The Jeff Ruby Steaks was a maximum points race on the road to the Kentucky Derby, and with his second-place finish, West Saratoga earned 50 more qualifying points for a total of 67, which will be enough to ensure a spot in the starting gate for the first Saturday in May.

West Saratoga is trained by Larry Demeritte. He was bred in Kentucky by the sire Exaggerator out of the mare Mo Wicked by Uncle Mo.