The keys to winning on grass at Saratoga not only revolves around a horse’s talent, but also the riders’.
With a high concentration of grass racing at the Saratoga meeting, now is a pretty good time to gauge how good the riders are in New York when they are racing on grass.
Face it; we all have our strengths and our weaknesses. When I’m on the golf course, I know I struggle with long irons, but put me within 70 yards of the green and I’ll chip you into a coma.
Riders are the same way. Some are great out of the gate and able to break quickly, and horses flat out run for them.
Some riders are patient and prefer to take a hold and let the horse run the last part of the race. And some riders just love to save ground, ride the rails and those at that rider’s keys to winning on grass.
Intelligence comes with hard work when it comes to riding horses. A jockey cannot just show up in the paddock and jump on a horse and expect great results on a daily basis. The rider must know the style of the horses he is riding. He must have a great gauge on the competition and which horses figure to be forwardly placed and which horses figure to come from left field. The rider must also pay attention and know how the turf course is playing of late. Often times, a turf course will take on a will of its own and favor either speed horses or deep closers and riders must be aware of what is happening on a daily basis.
Irad Ortiz Jr. got some national recognition when he won the Belmont Stakes this year with Creator, but he has been a top rider in New York for quite some time now. He excels when races are carded on turf.
At the Saratoga meeting last year, Ortiz had 156 mounts on grass and won with 34 of them for a cool 22%. A total of 82 of those runners ran in the top 3 as 53% ran in the money. Ortiz led the jockey colony in wins on grass and he is well on his way of perfecting the keys to winning on grass.
Three of the next 4 top grass riders popped at 15%. Javier Castellano won 24 races on grass at Saratoga last year, Luis Saez visited the winner’s circle 19 times and Joel Rosario won with 16 of his 105 grass mounts.
On the other end of the spectrum some high profile New York jockeys struggled on grass last year at Saratoga. Cornelio Velasquez hit with only 8% of his grass mounts. Manuel Franco was only 5 for 88 on grass and Julien Leparoux, one of the most coveted riders in the game, was only 3 for 62 with his grass starts last year at Saratoga.
Two prominent riders really struggled at Saratoga last year. Corey Lanerie, who rides for some of the best outfits in the Midwest, and Fernando Jara, were a combined 0 for 57 on the Saratoga grass last year. The keys to winning on grass have eluded these pilots so far at Saratoga.
Sure, things change and nothing really means nothing in horseracing unless the theory that is used right now works and a player cashes tickets.
By following the most prominent trainers and watching the decisions they make as far as riding assignments are concerned, these ploys can go a long way to succeeding in this game. The best results will be attained by utilizing the keys to winning on grass.
It’s a small sample, but so far history is repeating itself on the grass at the Saratoga meet. Irad Ortiz Jr. has already had 23 mounts on grass and 7 have reached the winner’s circle, for a juicy 30% clip.
Six riders have won twice so far on grass and Richard Santana Jr. has the best percentage winning with 2 of his first 8 turf mounts.
Take this concept a step farther and know that trainer Christophe Clement hit with 30% of his grass runners and conditioner Kiaran McLaughlin was 6 for 22 with his turf starters.
The moral of the story is that serious and casual players have to put the percentages in their favor as best as they can do. That means playing strict attention to riders around the country and their success and deficiencies on turf.
