Franco Earns First Riding Title at Saratoga Summer Meet

In a breakthrough Saratoga Race Course meeting that saw him win the Travers Stakes (G1) aboard Leading Change, jockey Manny Franco earned the leading rider title at the historic summer meet for the first time.

Franco won the title behind 73 wins, adding to 18 other titles on the circuit and four year-end honors as the top rider at the New York Racing Association, a title he is on pace to claim again as he currently holds a 65-win lead (214 wins) on the year over Flavien Prat.

"It feels unreal—I'm still in the sky," said Franco, who is represented by agent John Panagot. "I work hard every day here and when you work hard, you see the result. We've been having a lot of good chances, good horses, and I'm always trying to get the most out of these opportunities."

The record for wins by a jockey at a 40-day Saratoga summer meet is 68, a feat accomplished by Hall of Famer Ramon Dominguez in 2012. Franco completed this meet with 73 wins, having competed on 44 of the 45 cards during a summer meet that was expanded to allow for the construction of a new Belmont Park.

The 31-year-old native of Carolina, Puerto Rico, posted a meet record of 73-49-59 from 370 starts and total purse earnings of $8,460,130, good for a win rate of nearly 20% and an in-the-money percentage of nearly 49%%. The year-end leading rider at NYRA in 2018-19, 2023, and 2025 has won every NYRA meet this year, adding to his success at the Aqueduct winter (65 wins) and spring meets (22 wins), as well as the Belmont at the Big A spring/summer meet (53 wins).

"I win at Aqueduct and Belmont, so this one definitely means a lot," said Franco. "This is the one I wanted to have the most, and here we are."

The highlight of Franco's summer was a gutsy victory atop the Brad Cox-trained Leading Change  in the Aug. 29 Travers, keeping the colt undefeated through three starts. Cox and Franco also enjoyed a collaborative victory in the Hopeful Stakes (G1) with The Good Life .

Beyond his stakes victories, Franco also equaled the Saratoga single-day win record for a jockey with six wins Aug. 7.

Flavien Prat finished second at the meet with 67 wins, with Jose Ortiz landing third with 66 wins.

Five-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown earned his sixth consecutive training title and ninth overall at Saratoga for the 45-day meeting that ran from July 3-Sept. 7. 

Brown, a 47-year-old native of nearby Mechanicville, N.Y., posted 42 wins to earn his 37th training title on the NYRA circuit. He posted a record of 42-46-39 from 225 starts and earnings of $6,225,783 at the meet, good for a win rate of nearly 19% and an in-the-money percentage of 56%.

"It's very rewarding," Brown said. "I just want to thank my team; they do most of the work, and all the jockeys that rode under tremendous pressure. This is the hardest race meet to ride at and they really came through for me. The horses and the clients that own them—you have to have the horses and I have a really talented, deep group of horses and loyal clients that give them to us, so you have to have all those things in place. I'm really just the conductor trying to direct traffic really."

Brown said his local roots make each summer at Saratoga that much more special.

"It's meaningful—we always aim for this meet every year and it's tough and very challenging. Many of the top horsemen and women in the country and a lot of the top horses and connections (compete here), it's high-pressure racing," Brown said. "I think NYRA did a great job to have safe racing surfaces…You're always dealing with weather up here and they did a great job navigating through that.

"Everything moved really smoothly, and I thought this meet there was always new stuff that's going on and the content they're putting out there for the meet was improved and modernized and really thorough, and that was a great touch as we continue to improve our product here at Saratoga," he added. "Everyone really came through and did a good job and I'm just happy to be a part of it."

Brown won nine stakes races at the meet, led by four grade 1 conquests with Fully Subscribed  in the Personal Ensign Stakes (G1), Ways and Means🔥  in the Ballerina Stakes (G1), My Gun's Loaded🔥  in the Alabama Stakes  (G1), and Kathynmarissa  in the Diana Stakes (G1T) to provide him with a record-extending 11th win in the 9-furlong turf affair for older fillies and mares. 

Linda Rice finished second with 40 wins and Brad Cox took third with 23 wins.

Seth Klarman's Klaravich Stables earned their 32nd owners' title at a NYRA meeting, and eighth at the Spa. Each of their 17 wins came with horses trained by Brown. 

"Seth Klarman is a huge supporter of ours, and for him to have another owners' title is really rewarding," Brown said of his longtime client. "He really wants to have top horses, and that's the main focus, but in the process, he's won a lot of races and he participates here at NYRA at all different levels. He loves racing in New York and it's his primary focus, and he's a wonderful partner with NYRA as one of their biggest owners over the last decade or more."

Among Klaravich Stables' victories were graded coups with Fully Subscribed in the Personal Ensign and Shuvee Stakes (G2), and Ways and Means in the Ballerina. 

Klaravich Stables posted an overall record of 17-17-13 from 80 starts with $2,413,276 in purse earnings. Linda Rice was second with 15 wins and Michael Dubb finished third with 10 wins.