Horse Betting World

Familiar Names at the Top

By Joey Adams

With 16 of 40 racing days complete at Saratoga (following the completion of racing on Monday), we see familiar names dotting the leaderboard among trainers and riders. Todd Pletcher leads the trainers with 13 wins, followed by Chad Brown (10), Linda Rice (7) and Bill Mott (7). In large part because of Pletcher’s success, John Velazquez sits atop the jockey standings with 23 wins, followed by Javier Castellano (19), Ramon Dominguez (15) and Julien Leparoux (13). Here are a few more Saratoga facts to digest at this point in the meet. Horse Betting

1. There have been 155 races run at the meet, 53 of which were won by the betting favorite (34%)

2. The lowest winning payoff was Convocation ($2.60) on August 4, and the highest winning payoff was Arcodoro ($90.00) on July 31.

3. 95 of 155 races (61%) have been won by horses who finished in-the-money in their most recent race. 111 of 155 races (72%) have been won by horses who finished 4th or better in their most recent start.

4. There have been 18 debut winners at the meet, every one of them running with first-time Lasix. The following trainers have saddled debut winners at the meet:
o Todd Pletcher (5)
o Chad Brown (5)
o Steve Asmussen (2)
o Linda Rice (2)
o Leon Blusiewicz
o John Kimmel
o Ralph Nicks
o Rick Violette

5. Quickest turnaround: Gary Contessa, Primed to Be Ready ($7.40), 8 days. Longest layoff: Mike Maker, Risque ($12.40), 347 days. Horse Racing Betting

6. Where have the winners been coming from? This is a list of tracks where race winners made their most recent start:
o Belmont Park (72)
o Churchill Downs (19)
o Monmouth Park (10)
o Delaware Park (6)
o Aqueduct (5)
o Saratoga (4)
o Woodbine (4)
o Prairie Meadows (3)
o Colonial Downs (2)
o Finger Lakes (2)
o Gulfstream Park (2)
o Keeneland (2)
o Philadelphia Park (2)
o Hollywood Park (1)
o Louisiana Downs (1)
o Pimlico (1)
o Suffolk Downs (1)

7. There have been four races run at 5 furlongs, all of them won by first-time starters; three of them won wire-to-wire from post #1.

8. There has not been a winner from post #1 in races at 6 ½ furlongs.

9. There has only been one winner from post #1 in races at 5 ½ furlongs on turf, and that winner was a heavy betting favorite.

10. There has not been a winner from post #1 in races at one mile on the inner turf course. 50% of these races have been won wire-to-wire.

11. There have been 18 races run at 1 1/16 miles on the inner turf course and only 2 of these (11%) were won by the betting favorite. Online Horse Racing

12. In races at nine furlongs or longer on the turf there has not been a single wire-to-wire winner.