Stars Will Be Out as Saratoga Opens Rich 40 Day Meet Friday

The 146th summer season at Saratoga opens Friday. (photo credit Ivan Cholakov via Bigstock)

Saratoga opens on Friday for the 146^th time and the stars will be out during the 40-day meeting that will feature more than $17 million in purses in stakes races alone.

There are 34 graded stakes highlighted by the $1.5 million Whitney (G1) on Saturday, Aug. 2 for older runners and the $1.5 million Travers Stakes (G1) for three-year-olds.

Palace Malice is pointing toward the Whitney, and the betting card will feature the $350,000 Test (G1), the $350,000 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap (G1) for sprinters, and two turf races: the $100,000 De La Rose for fillies and mares and the $100,000 Lure.

Belmont Stakes (G1) winner Tonalist will likely be the one to beat in the Travers which will be contested on Saturday, Aug. 23. The card will also feature the $500,000 King’s Bishop (G1) for male sprinters, the $500,000 Ballerina (G1) for filly and mare sprinters and the $250,000 Ballston Spa (G1) for turf fillies and mares.

Javier Castellano led all jockeys last summer with 66 winners, 20 more than John Velazquez. The local jockey colony will have a new face during the opening four days of the meeting, as Frankie Dettori will be in to ride for trainer Wesley Ward.

Trainer Todd Pletcher appears likely to add another training title to his resume. The six-time Eclipse Award winning trainer will be seeking his 11^th training title at the Spa. He won 36 races last year, with Chad Brown the runner up with 24 winners.

Friday’s opening stakes race is the $150,000 Schuylerville (G3), a six-furlong sprint for two-year-old fillies that drew a compact field of five and was carded as the third race.

The Pletcher trained Fashion Alert is the 3-5 morning line favorite and will try to give the trainer his fifth win in the opening day feature. Pletcher last won this race in 2011 with Georgie’s Angel.

Fashion Alert broke her maiden in her debut by taking the Astoria at Belmont Park on June 14. She faces four foes that are all coming off wins in the maiden ranks including Tulira’s Star, who was a good-looking winner in fast time over the polytrack at Arlington Park on June 8 and was purchased privately by Team Valor International.

The co-feature on Friday’s card is the $100,000 Sir Cat which drew a field of seven plus one main track only entrant. The race is scheduled for a mile on the inner turf for three-year-olds.

The Chad Brown trained Storming Inti is the 9-5 morning line favorite. The colt makes his first start since checking in third in the Penn Mile at Penn National on May 31. The colt is a three-time stakes winner on turf, his last coming in the Kitten’s Joy at Gulfstream Park in January. The colt has lost his last four starts.

Coming up on Saturday is the first Grade 1 of the meeting with seven fillies and mares lining up for the $500,00 TVG Diana at 1 1/8 miles on the inner turf. The co-feature is the $150,000 Sanford (G2) for two-year-olds that drew seven.

On Sunday, it will be another edition of the Jockey Club Tour on Fox, which will feature the $300,000 Coaching Club of America Oaks (G1) for three-year-old fillies. The two-hour telecast gets underway on Fox Sports 1 at 5:30 pm ET and will include the $300,000 Eddie Read (G1) from Del Mar.

2014 Stakes Schedule for Saratoga

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