Saratoga Race Course essentials: July 21, 2022

PHOTOGRAPHER: Erica Miller

Dream Central, trained by Gary Sciacca and owned by Eddie F’s Racing, enters the paddock for the inaugural Suzie O’Cain Stakes at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs on Wednesday, July 20, 2022.

Share on Facebook

Save

Today is Day 6 of the Saratoga Race Course meet. Racing starts at 1:05 p.m.

RECENT STORIES FROM THE DAILY GAZETTE AT THE TRACK

“Dream Central gives Schenectady native Fazzone a dream ride in Suzie O’Cain,” by Mike MacAdam with photos from Erica Miller

Eddie Fazzone could barely speak, his vocal chords shot from rooting for his filly Dream Central.

But he had plenty to say.

The Schenectady native and Mont Pleasant High school graduate, who runs the popular Eddie F’s seafood restaurant in Saratoga Springs with his wife, Lisa, a Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons grad, first owned Thoroughbreds in the 1990s, but had never won a race of any kind at his hometown track.

That changed on Wednesday, and in a big way, as Dream Central and jockey Jose Lezcano barely got up in time to beat even-money betting favorite She’s a Mia by a head in the $125,000 Suzie O’Cain stakes for New York-bred 3-year-old fillies on the turf.

~ Read More At The Track ~

“TAG at the Track: Livingston delves deep to put together exhibit of Raftery’s racing photos,” by Teresa A. Genaro

You know that feeling when your phone storage is getting low, and you realize you have 10,000 photos on it, and you keep avoiding going through them to figure out which ones you should keep?

Multiply that by 250, and you’ll have some idea of the daunting task that faced award-winning photographer Barbara Livingston when she acquired Jim Raftery’s vast archive of horse racing negatives, all 300 boxes of them.

In 1998, Livingston acquired her first collection of negatives, those of James W. Sames III. Initially intending to buy one print, she ended up with a big box of negatives, discovering in it photographs of Triple Crown winners War Admiral (1937) and Whirlaway (1941).

“That box was full of history,” said Livingston, who grew up in East Glenville and attended Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake schools before graduating from Syracuse University with a degree in photography. “After that, I was on the lookout for people with collections of negatives that they didn’t know what to do with.”

~ Read More At The Track ~

“Apprentice Gomez trying to put himself on fast track in Saratoga jockey colony,” by Mike MacAdam with photos from Erica Miller

Well, that didn’t take long.

First race on Friday’s card, first race ever riding here, and jockey Jose Gomez scored his first victory ever at Saratoga Race Course.

He asked Lady Mine, 8-1 in the betting, to move to the front out of the starting gate, got in a duel with Maddie’s Grace to the inside that lasted until the quarter pole, then absorbed a challenge from Im Just Kiddin as Gomez kept his filly to the task all the way to the wire for a one-length victory.

It was just another maiden race for New York-bred 2-year-old fillies, not some big stakes race with a gigantic purse, but to the apprentice rider it represented another important step in his quick rise as an established jockey in New York and perhaps throughout the U.S. someday.

Gomez, a 21-year-old Michigan native whose mother and father barnstormed various racing circuits as a groom and exercise rider, respectively, is due to lose his apprentice status on Jan. 14 of next year, having blown through the early benchmarks in the process of becoming a journeyman.

In the meantime, he’s been busy carving out some business, with the help of legendary Hall of Famer Angel Cordero, Jr., as his agent, at Saratoga.

~ Read More At The Track ~

*Happy Farm, trained by Antonio Arriaga, is hosed off on a hot day after winning the sixth race at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs on Wednesday, July 20, 2022. (Erica Miller/The Daily Gazette)*

“Saratoga Race Course sees opening weekend jump in handle and attendance,” by Natasha Vaughn-Holdridge with photos from Erica Miller

Opening weekend at the track attracted more people and bigger handles than in 2021.

The New York Racing Association reports a 10% increase in paid opening weekend attendance this year over last year, from 94,078 in 2021 to 103,254 in 2022.

~ Read More At The Track ~

TODAY’S RACING INFO

TODAY’S PICKS