Jocks' Safety Concern Leads to Saratoga Distance Change

Concern raised by jockeys over the safety of running inexperienced 2-year-olds over a 1-mile distance on the Saratoga Race Course inner turf course led to a late change in distance for the fourth race July 12.

One-mile races over the inner turf course have a short run-up into the clubhouse turn, and riders expressed to New York Racing Association officials that they did not feel it was safe to have maiden 2-year-olds compete as such. Six of the 10 juveniles entered in Sunday's fourth race were making their debut and the other four were making their first start around two turns.

Sunday's race had been drawn July 8, and 2-year-old fillies competed over the 1-mile inner turf distance in the second race July 10; the only incident being a bridle issue that led to Fire Angel  bolting early in the race. Two such races were also held in 2025 on July 25 (Race 7) and Aug. 7 (Race 2).

However, NYRA chief revenue officer and president of NYRA Bets Tony Allevato said on Fox Sports' 'Saratoga Live' program that riders did not voice their concern over the distance until after Sunday's nine-race card began at 1:10 p.m. ET.

Due to this, the stewards changed the maiden special weight to 1 1/16 miles, and the fourth race was delayed from a 2:54 p.m. scheduled post time to breaking from the gate at 3:34 p.m. The second and third race also experienced nine- and 13-minute delays, respectively.

"After the start of the card today, we had the jockeys approach us with concern about the mile distance for 2-year-olds because of the shorter run-up to the first turn in a mile-and-a-sixteenth race," Allevato said. "We had two of these races last year, and seven of the 10 jockeys in (Sunday's) race ran those races last year. But this was brought to our attention as a concern after the start of the card. Because of that, safety always comes first for the horses and the riders, so we moved the distance to a mile-and-a-sixteenth."

On behalf of the Saratoga jockey colony, the Jockeys' Guild said in a July 13 statement that riders raised concerns with NYRA officials following the July 10 race, and again voiced concerns before Sunday's card at approximately 12:15 p.m. They noted that the three previous races held Friday and last year were conducted with eight or fewer starters, and that at no point had the jockeys ever agreed to more than eight starters at the distance.

READ: Jockeys' Guild Responds to Saratoga Distance Change

In a post on X, jockey Junior Alvarado, who was aboard fifth-place finisher Suspend , also said concerns about the distance were raised last week.

"We told them about it last week after they ran a mile race with a six horse field and it was a disaster," Alvarado said in the first of two posts on the subject. In the second he added, "We rode last week and told them we weren't doing that again and they wait until a race before to adjust."

Because of the late change, NYRA made the decision to cancel the Pick 6, which was set to begin in the fourth race. The $166,702 carryover was moved to July 16's nine-race card.

Additionally, Pick 4 and Pick 5 wagers that commenced in Races 1-3 resulted in an ALL for race 4. Pick 3s commenced in Races 2-3 and the Race 3 double were not impacted. The Double and Pick 4 that began in Race 4 were canceled.

"Our concern then turned to the gamblers, for those people who had wagered already on the Pick 6, handicapped for the Pick 6 to be at a mile," Allevato said. "Moving to the mile-and-a-sixteenth wouldn't be fair to the gamblers.

"There was no great result here, but we thought this was the best way to protect the gamblers in this situation."

Jockeys Irad Ortiz Jr., Jose Ortiz, and Flavien Prat declined BloodHorse's request for comment.