What’s Going On at Saratoga Racecourse

[theokodjak26]

I know we are all harness ploppers here but what the heck is going on in Saratoga Springs? Cancelling turf races. Scratches all over. Tiny fields. And every race day FS1 or FS2 has great live shows from the Spa but not today. Is NYRA putting a muzzle on their on air personalities? Before the two race tragedies the on air teams were giving us a lot of truth as to how bad the stewards have been allowing very rough riding. Then when Parcells’s horse went down they basically stopped talking. What is going on?

[HornbyDuke]

5th race today cancelled due to power outage. Tree fell down near barn 61 and knocked out wire. 1100 lost power.

[rainman2]

Very heavy rain yesterday. My trainer show me a picture of the rain gear used taking horses out!

[Saratogalifer]

It’s been bad.. flooding everywhere

[dinkadoo]

I know we are all harness ploppers here but what the heck is going on in Saratoga Springs? Cancelling turf races. Scratches all over. Tiny fields. And every race day FS1 or FS2 has great live shows from the Spa but not today. Is NYRA putting a muzzle on their on air personalities? Before the two race tragedies the on air teams were giving us a lot of truth as to how bad the stewards have been allowing very rough riding. Then when Parcells’s horse went down they basically stopped talking. What is going on?

They have had a hell of year.... When Covid hit, sitting at home, I spent a lot of time watching the FS1 Saratoga show every afternoon while they still had no fans. Learned a lot and to be honest I don't bet harness much as I liked the bigger fields and huge pots. After decades of racing and betting, In the last two years I had my two biggest payouts.

This year they have been getting killed with weather and horses breaking down or falling and in the most visible case, a runner going for 6 for 6 breaking down at the wire with a nice lead.

The small fields have been crazy and i attribute to two things. 1) other tracks nearby are going for very good money so you can avoid the talent at Saratoga...   2) I think the Pletcher / Brown / and a couple of other trainers just dominate to the point that you don't want to butt heads against them. Sure they race for great money, but with second place getting 20% of the purse, it isn't quite as great when running for second or third money.

I don't feel they are muffling the talent. Yesterday with the power outage it was a crazy day. I watched the show for the last couple of races, Gary Stevens still hammering the judges and Ortiz for the careless riding

[Generation XYZ]

Reality is the Track surfaces are horrendous. Dirt is not draining as well as expected. Even though some days its rated fast, if you are trackside, the surface looks very heavy.  The turf as I said in another thread. Not much can be done, besides rolling it. Its also saturated from the various storms coming through the past month.  Another reality is it seems that there is less help than in recent years. so maybe overall maintenance is lacking, or short handed? 

[onabrake]

They have had a hell of year.... When Covid hit, sitting at home, I spent a lot of time watching the FS1 Saratoga show every afternoon while they still had no fans. Learned a lot and to be honest I don't bet harness much as I liked the bigger fields and huge pots. After decades of racing and betting, In the last two years I had my two biggest payouts.

This year they have been getting killed with weather and horses breaking down or falling and in the most visible case, a runner going for 6 for 6 breaking down at the wire with a nice lead.

The small fields have been crazy and i attribute to two things. 1) other tracks nearby are going for very good money so you can avoid the talent at Saratoga...   2) I think the Pletcher / Brown / and a couple of other trainers just dominate to the point that you don't want to butt heads against them. Sure they race for great money, but with second place getting 20% of the purse, it isn't quite as great when running for second or third money.

I don't feel they are muffling the talent. Yesterday with the power outage it was a crazy day. I watched the show for the last couple of races, Gary Stevens still hammering the judges and Ortiz for the careless riding

Just wait to see what happens when Ortiz gets somebody else killed out there. He is ten times worse than Angel Cordero Jr. ever was and continues to get away with it.

[Mailbox Money]

He's going to be the first one to get an elbowing penalty on the back of a horse !

[harnessplop]

Explain issue with Ortiz, I don't follow it enough. Wouldn't other trainers talk to judges about him and have it stop? Linda Rice doesn't use irad ever

[onabrake]

Explain issue with Ortiz, I don't follow it enough. Wouldn't other trainers talk to judges about him and have it stop? Linda Rice doesn't use irad ever

Because he has superior talent he gets used by the best, Pletcher, Brown,etc. There is no question about the guy moving horses up and getting the most out of horses. The issue seems to be he is basically a bully at times on the track and has been allowed to get away with more and more over time, to the point where you have situations like the Jim Dandy stakes.It was 100 % clear that multiple fouls were committed over the last 1/4 mile of the race but because of the race stature and connections, the stewards chose to look the other way versus an incident earlier in the week where Ortiz was taken down for an infraction that was far less obvious in nature.

The more he gets away with rides like this, the more likely other riders are going to go down on the track moving forward, bank on it.

[Calhoun]

Explain issue with Ortiz, I don't follow it enough. Wouldn't other trainers talk to judges about him and have it stop? Linda Rice doesn't use irad ever

Ortiz is the best out there now.

He has moved on from being very aggressive.  He has gone past riding carelessly and past riding recklessly.  He is now riding dangerously.

The stewards at nyra are clowns.  And riding for Pletcher, Brown, Repole etc..., protects him. 

jmvhmfo

[Mailbox Money]

If something isn't done we may see races on the Oklahoma track!

[Generation XYZ]

Ortiz is the best out there now.

He has moved on from being very aggressive.  He has gone past riding carelessly and past riding recklessly.  He is now riding dangerously.

The stewards at nyra are clowns.  And riding for Pletcher, Brown, Repole etc..., protects him. 

jmvhmfo

The Trainers you mention should know that he's putting the horse in the line of fire with these dangerous rides, and do nothing.

[mwins]

If this was harness racing, a lot of you guys would be blaming the owners lol.
"They know what he is like and they continue to use him".