My introduction to an article with this headline last year began with the following utterance: ‘Eight weeks of excellent racing: that is the most succinct way of describing what we’re going to see at Saratoga this summer’.
Well, a year on I’m pleased to top that claim as the Saratoga schedule has been lengthened by an extra fortnight to 10 weeks to cater for the renovation of Belmont Park. Instead of 40 Graded stakes races scattered across the programme, we will now be treated to a whopping 46 alternated between the turf and dirt tracks. That works out at an average of one Graded stakes race per day!
With so many valuable target spots mixed together with a heap of competitive allowance, claiming and maiden races, it is perhaps unsurprising that a vast portion of the best US equine performers will be stationed in upstate New York. Here are 10 horses to keep an eye on this summer.
STAR OLDER HORSES
MAGNITUDE
I initially saved top spot for 2025 Horse Of The Year, Sovereignty, but his recent defeat in the Grade 1 Stephen Foster has posed questions about his future. Instead, his victorious foe Magnitude has launched himself to the top of the rankings.
Steve Asmussen’s metronomic front-runner backed up his Dubai World Cup victory over Forever Young by impressively downing Baeza, Sovereignty and White Abarrio at Churchill Downs in June. The Grade 1 Whitney on August 8 has been pinpointed as the next target en route to another big day in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. Gun Runner 2.0?
WAYS AND MEANS
Saratoga’s dirt track doesn’t suit every horse, but it is absolutely perfect for Ways And Means. Chad Brown’s headliner filly has recorded five wins and a second-placed finish from six starts at the venue, which includes successes in the Grade 1 Test and two victories in the Grade 2 Bed O’Roses. Surely another course win awaits this summer?
Ways And Means, who currently tops the antepost betting for the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint at 9/2, has been working nicely on the training track at Saratoga and figures to have one start this summer before being prepped for Keeneland in late October. Retirement beckons after that, so expect her to close out her scintillating but truncated career with two more stellar displays.
ZULU KINGDOM
A dual Grade 1 winner with seven victories from 10 career starts cannot have something to prove, right? Zulu Kingdom is one of the best turf routers in the country as proven by his Grade 1 Maker’s Mark Mile victory at Keeneland in April, a race that saw subsequent Group 1 Lockinge winner Notable Speech encounter plenty of trouble, but his most recent performance in the Grade 3 Poker Stakes at Saratoga was bleak at best.
Chad Brown gave him two weeks off before returning to the training track on June 21, and he breezed with plenty of enthusiasm. Zulu Kingdom was reportedly struggling with a quarter crack in his build-up to the Poker, so greater things are expected next time out.
BOOK’EM DANNO
Derek Ryan’s five-year-old is perhaps the best dirt sprinter in the country. Much like Ways And Means, Book’Em Danno has a nearly unblemished record of five wins and one place from six outings at Saratoga - two of those successes have come at the very top level.
He was most recently seen running down Bentornato in a thrilling edition of the Grade 3 True North here in June, and a step up to seven furlongs will undoubtedly bring about further improvement. The Grade 1 Forego Stakes, a race he won last year, is likely to be his summer target on August 29.
STAR THREE-YEAR-OLDS
GOLDEN TEMPO
The star of the spring has been Golden Tempo. His deep-closing running style and prior defeats in the Grade 2 Risen Star and Grade 2 Louisiana Derby left plenty of people believing he was a cut below the top level, but last-to-first victories in the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes have more than bellied that opinion.
The amount of improvement left in this colt remains to be seen, but trainer Cherie DeVaux has managed his workload beautifully thus far. Initial plans to take in the Jim Dandy have been nipped in the bud due to a recent setback, but the Travers remains his summer goal.
ENGLISHMAN
From one Cherie DeVaux-trained star to another. Englishman equalled a track record that had stood for 38 years when he romped home in the Grade 1 Woody Stephens at this track on Belmont Stakes day, and he was somewhat geared down in the final few strides.
With just four starts to his name, there is little to suggest that there isn’t more to come. If that transpires, there will be no doubt that Englishman is the fastest three-year-old dirt sprinter in the country. His competition may be thin on the ground this summer, so expect a sequence of wins.
CRUDE VELOCITY
The only horse to have previously beaten the aforementioned Englishman is this colt, Crude Velocity, who got the better of him in the Pat Day Mile in May. Dropping back to seven furlongs in the Woody Stephens resulted in a form reversal, and trainer Bob Baffert was keen to mention that he would never let Crude Velocity line up against Englishman again over that trip.
His next start is scheduled to come in the Grade 1 Haskell at Monmouth on July 18, but there is a chance that he will step up in distance for the Grade 1 Travers at Saratoga in late August.
CY FAIR
Connections made a last-minute decision to duck Royal Ascot with this star filly, who won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint in 2025. Instead, they are opting to target a couple of races at Saratoga this spring. A maiden winner at Saratoga with Grade 2-placed form also on her track resume, Cy Fair will prove tough to beat in a pretty weak division.
WEST END KID
Victory in the Grade 3 Pennine Ridge at Saratoga in June showed that Will Walden’s West End Kid could be the new face on the turf scene. It is difficult to suggest quite how high he can rise through the ranks, but his potent mix of tactical speed, push-button acceleration, and unwavering stamina will certainly serve him well.
The Belmont Derby on July 4 is pencilled in as his next target. There he will likely face a couple of European challengers.
JUVENILE OF NOTE
DRUMLINE
Saratoga offers up some of the deepest and most impactful maiden special weight contests all year round, so here is an unraced juvenile worth looking out for.
Drumline is a homebred filly out of a mare called Harmonize, who won five times during her racing career. Those victories included two wins at Saratoga and the Grade 1 Del Mar Oaks, but it’s important to note that she was an exceptionally precocious two-year-old and that may be passed down to her progeny.
As you can tell by this filly’s name, she is by the brilliant Flightline. The freshman sire is already making an impact with his limited runners to date, and Drumline will undoubtedly add to his success in the near future.
