I have visited Saratoga Race Course as a reporter or fan every summer since the mid-1970s. Every meet produces its share of spectacular performances, human and equine. Here are 10 highlights from this summer’s action:

NO STOPPING THEM: When it comes to Saratoga, those new to the races are often advised to wager on trainer Chad Brown and/or jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. whenever those two appear in the program. They again asserted themselves. Brown secured his fifth consecutive H. Allen Jerkens training title when he tied Todd Pletcher with 32 wins apiece for the 40-day meet. Ortiz Jr. made it four Angel Cordero Jr. riding titles in a row and seven overall when he bested his brother, Jose Ortiz, 59 wins to 55. Pletcher, with stellar performances as he unveiled his 2-year-old class, earned his 15th training title. Mike Repole, Pletcher’s top client, emerged as leading owner with 14 victories.

Sovereignty winning the 2025 Travers. (Adam Coglianese/NYRA)

BUCKET-LIST TRAVERS: Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott had won virtually every major race in the United States except the Travers, going 0-for-13 with three second-place finishes, in the famed “Mid-Summer Derby.” Sovereignty ended that perplexing drought with an exclamation point, rolling by 10 lengths as he coasted to the finish line under jockey Junior Alvarado. “It’s something I’ve been waiting on,” said a relieved Mott. “I had two or three races on my bucket list and one of them was the Met Mile. We got that done with Cody’s Wish [in 2023] and the one that was left was the Travers.” Sovereignty, a Godolphin homebred, became the first horse to sweep the Kentucky Derby, Belmont Stakes, and Travers since Thunder Gulch in 1995.

WHAT A CHAMPION: Reigning Horse of the Year Thorpedo Anna reminded everyone of how special she is when she dug deep to fend off Dorth Vader by a nostril in a scintillating stretch duel in the Personal Ensign Stakes. It marked the seventh Grade 1 success for the 4-year-old daughter of Fast Anna. “She showed what a champion she was,” jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. said. “You know, all I had to do was kind of stay out of her way. She decided to make her run. I just let her do her thing.” Added trainer Ken McPeek, “That wasn’t as easy as we’d want it to be, but she is a champion. That is why she wins.” Thorpedo Anna delivered for the 12th time in 15 career starts with a pair of second-place finishes.

LASTING MEMORIES: Brown, from nearby Mechanicville, N.Y., finally broke through in the Whitney Stakes when Sierra Leone, patiently ridden by Flavien Prat, roared from last to first. Brown, one of the nation’s premier trainers, developed a passion for the sport when his parents took him to Saratoga Race Course each summer. “Growing up around here, the Whitney and the Travers is what the whole race meet has been built around since the early days,” Brown noted. “So, for me to finally get one of them with my mom and dad here, my brother, both of my daughters, made memories to last forever. This is a really hard race to win and you’ve got to have the right horse. Sierra Leone finished second in the Jockey Club Gold Cup on the meet’s final weekend and might have fared better if not for an early bumping incident.

SMARTY PARTY: The National Museum of Racing’s Hall of Fame induction ceremony turned into a Smarty party as 2004 Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Smarty Jones headlined the latest class of honorees. The hard-knocking Pennsylvania-bred became the toast of Philadelphia with a Rocky-like rise to national prominence during a Triple Crown bid derailed by longshot Birdstone. “He wasn’t just a racehorse, he was a hero,” trainer John Servis said. “Whether it was his rags-to-riches story or the way he fought every step of the way, fans saw themselves in him. He reminded us all of why we love this sport.” The horses Decathlon and Hermis and trainer George Conway were selected by the Historic Review Committee. Edward Bowen, Arthur B. Hancock III, and Richard Ten Broeck were honored as Pillars of the Turf.

Ted Noffey winning Hopeful Stakes. (Eclipse Sportswire)

TWO EXCITING JUVENILES: Spendthrift Farm enjoyed a huge Labor Day weekend when homebreds Tommy Jo and Ted Noffey won the Spinaway Stakes and Spendthrift Farm Hopeful Stakes, respectively. The latter appears to be flawed only in the misspelled attempt to name the colt for farm general manager Ned Toffey. Trained by Todd Pletcher and ridden by John Velazquez, Ted Noffey romped by 8 ½ lengths. “I thought that was a good bunch of horses and he left no doubt,” Toffey said. “That was really impressive.” Tommy Jo, also trained by Pletcher, and Ted Noffey are both by white-hot stallion Into Mischief. The cherry on top is that Tommy Jo is named for Spendthrift owner Eric Gustafson’s granddaughter.

ANOTHER PROMISING PROSPECT: Ewing, a son of Knicks Go named for Hall of Fame New York Knicks center Patrick Ewing, was all heart when he outdueled well-regarded Obliteration by one length in the Grade 2 Saratoga Special Stakes. The colt started poorly but rushed up to take early command in the 6 ½-furlong contest for jockey Jose Ortiz.  When Obliteration ranged up and eyeballed him, he turned him away and completed the distance in 1:18.03 for dual Hall of Famer Mark Casse. Ewing had made a smashing debut, roaring off to win by 12 lengths July 5 at Saratoga. Ewing must still answer the distance question, of course. “I want him to go farther,” Casse said. “But what I want and what I get are sometimes different.”  

Riley Mott, far right, celebrating after Saratoga Derby

MORE THAN A NAME: Riley Mott, son of Hall of Famer Bill Mott, captured his first graded-stakes victory when World Beater won the Grade 1, $750,000 Saratoga Derby Invitational Stakes. Junior Alvarado, subbing for Jaime Torres, was aboard for the breakthrough. Torres had been scheduled to ride but could not arrive in time due to a flight delay caused by inclement weather. It meant everything to Mott that family members accompanied him for his greatest moment to date. “This is my childhood at Saratoga, this is my playground,” he said. “The amount of times we’ve walked down here to the winner’s circle, my dad and I, I couldn’t count them all. So, this was really special to have him and my extended family here.”

EMOTIONAL SCORE: Emotions ran high for trainer Melanie Giddings and her staff when Leon Blue sped home first in the Rick Violette Stakes for New York-breds. Giddings’ top assistant, Melissa Cohen, and Fausto Flores, another key employee, had worked for Violotte before he died of cancer. Violotte was a strident voice on behalf of horsemen and Thoroughbred aftercare. “I have some of the best of Rick’s crew and they miss him a lot every day,” Giddings said. “They talk about him all the time still, so it’s meaningful we could win that for him.” The Rick Violette also was special for 19-year-old jockey Christopher Elliott since it marked his first stakes win.

NEVER TOO OLD: Trainer Bob Dunham, still vigorous at age 87, showed he has what it takes to train a winner at Saratoga when New York-bred Come Full Circle reached the winner’s circle on Aug. 1 in a maiden claiming race for Casner Racing. Dunham oversees a two-horse stable these days. He is pointing Kaaterskill, a New York-bred filly who has already won, to the fall meet at Aqueduct. She broke her maiden last December. Dunham began his training career more than 50 years ago. He describes himself as “semi-retired.” Everyone should age so gracefully.