The Saratoga Summer Meet is one of the special events on the horse racing calendar. The 2023 summer meet began Thursday, July 13 and runs through Labor Day on September 4.
On this page we will look at horse racing betting odds for the 2023 races at Saratoga and more.
Saratoga odds
For live odds on every race at Saratoga go to FanDuel Racing. For Travers Stakes odds go here.
Saratoga horse racing odds: Season preview
Here comes the Summer of Paradise.
That’s long been a theme for Saratoga Race Course fans and bettors, who welcome the fabled upstate New York track’s 40-day live-racing meet from July 13-September 4.
Saratoga unfurls an impressive 71 stakes worth $20.8 million, headlined by the $1.25 million Runhappy Travers Stakes on Aug. 26 and the $1 million Whitney Stakes Aug. 5.
Travers Day will be the most lucrative card on the entire circuit. There will be more than $4 million in purses.
A popular new racing concept – the turf racing Triple Crown circuits for fillies and mares – becomes a major player in the Saratoga lineup and will be featured weekend of Aug. 4-5.
These races follow on the heels of the turf triple crowns inaugurated by the New York Racing Association in 2019.
The $600,000 GI Saratoga Derby Invitational Aug. 5 is the second leg of the turf crown series for male horses. It is sandwiched between the July 8 series opener and the October finale, both at Belmont Park.
The $400,000 Saratoga Oaks for fillies follows the same schedule.
The stakes races, combined with the Whitney, provide an exceptional racing weekend.
Other meet highlights include the$600,000 Jim Dandy, the prelude to the Travers, on July 30.
Both the Jim Dandy and the Travers were won narrowly by eventual Eclipse-Award winning Essential Quality last year. Essential Quality went on to gain third in the Breeders Cup behind Knicks Go and Medina Spirit.
The 2023 Saratoga meet will run Wednesdays through Sundays after a four-day opening weekend. There will be at least one six-figure purse every day of the meet and several cards will be loaded with them.
Here is the Saratoga Racing Schedule, according to NYRA. Some dates may change. Check schedules periodically.
- G I denotes a Grade 1 race
- G II denotes a Grade 2 event
- G III stands for Grade 3 race
Week 1
- Thursday, July 13 – GIII Schuylerville Wilton
- Friday, July 14 – Wilton and Coronation Cup
- Saturday, July 15 – GI Diana and GIII Kelso
- Sunday, July 16 – GIII Quick Call
- Monday, July 17 – Dark: No Live Racing
- Tuesday, July 18 – Dark: No Live Racing
Week 2
- Wednesday, July 19 – GI A. P. Smithwick Memorial (Steeplechase)
- Thursday, July 20 – NYSSS Cab Calloway Division
- Friday, July 21 – GIII Lake George and Curlin
- Saturday, July 22 – GIII Caress and GI Coaching Club American Oaks
- Sunday, July 23 – GII Shuvee
- Monday, July 24 – Dark: No Live Racing
- Tuesday, July 25 – Dark: No Live Racing
Week 3
- Wednesday, July 26 – GII Honorable Miss Handicap
- Thursday, July 27 – Birdstone
- Friday, July 28 – GII Amsterdam
- Saturday, July 29 – GI Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap and GII Jim Dandy
- Sunday, July 30 – GII Amsterdam and GII Bowling Green
- Monday, July 31 – Dark: No Live Racing
- Tuesday, August 1 – Dark: No Live Racing
Week 4
- Wednesday, August 2 – Fasig Tipton De La Rose
- Thursday, August 3 – GII Glens Falls
- Friday, August 4 – GII National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame and GIII Fasig Tipton Saratoga Oaks Invitational
- Saturday, August 5 – Whitney Day – Fasig Tipton Lure, GI Longines Test, GIII Troy Stakes, GI Whitney, GI Caesars Saratoga Derby Invitational
- Sunday, August 6 – GIII Adirondack
- Monday, August 7 – Dark: No Live Racing
- Tuesday, August 8 – Dark: No Live Racing
Week 5
- Wednesday, August 9 – Johnstone Mile
- Thursday, August 10 – John Morrissey Handicap
- Friday, August 11 – Evan Shipman Handicap and Union Avenue Handicap
- Saturday, August 12 – GI Fourstardave Handicap, GII Saratoga Special, and Galway
- Sunday, August 13 – Mahony
- Monday, August 14 – Dark: No Live Racing
- Tuesday, August 15 – Dark: No Live Racing
Week 6
- Wednesday, August 16 – GI Jonathan Sheppard and Suzie O’Cain
- Thursday, August 17 – Rick Violette
- Friday, August 18 – Skidmore
- Saturday, August 19 – Alabama Day – GI Alabama, and GII Lake Placid
- Sunday, August 20 – Bolton Landing
- Monday, August 21 – Dark: No Live Racing
- Tuesday, August 22 – Dark: No Live Racing
Week 7
- Wednesday, August 23 – John’s Call
- Thursday, August 24 – GII Ballston Spa
- Friday, August 25– GI Personal Ensign and Smart N Fancy
- Saturday, August 26 – Travers Day – GI Forego, GI H. Allen Jerkens Memorial, GI Resorts World Casino Sword Dancer, and GI Travers
- Sunday, August 27 – Albany, Fleet Indian, Funny Cide, Seeking the Ante, West Point Handicap, and Yaddo Handicap
- Monday, August 28 – Dark: No Live Racing
- Tuesday, August 29 – Dark: No Live Racing
Week 8
- Wednesday, August 30 – P.G. Johnson
- Thursday, August 31 – GIII With Anticipation
- Friday, September 1 – GIII Saranac
- Saturday, September 2 – GII Flower Bowl, Harvey Pack, GI Jockey Club Gold Cup, and GII Prioress
- Sunday, September 3 – GI Spinaway
- Monday, September 4 – GIII Bernard Baruch Handicap and GI Hopeful
Best online horse racing sites
Saratoga Race Course
- Address: 267 Union Avenue, Saratoga Springs, NY 12866
- Owner: New York state
- Operator: The New York Racing Association
- Main Track: 1 1/8 mile oval racetrack
Saratoga Springs is also home to the National Museum of Racing. Along with the 1 1/8 mile (9 furlongs) main dirt track, Saratoga has a second 8-furlong turf track and a 7-furlong inner-turf track. The main dirt track is 4 inches of sandy-loam cushion over 10 inches of clay, silt and sand base. The 8-furlong Mellon Turf Course and inner turf course has 8 inches of sandy topsoil that is covered by Kentucky Bluegrass turf.
At more than 150 years old, the grounds at Saratoga maintain a historical feel, but the technology featured gives visitors a modern, convenient experience.
Nicknamed ‘The Spa’ for the nearby mineral springs, Saratoga has 76 stakes races worth more than $21 million in purses scheduled for the 2021 meet.
Key races and dates
The Saratoga stakes schedule is headlined by the 154th running of the Travers Stakes on Saturday, Aug. 26. Known as the ‘Midsummer Derby’, the Travers is the oldest major thoroughbred horse race in the United Stakes. It’s the most prominent race at Saratoga on the most popular day or racing during the summer. Since 1904, the race has been contested at 1 ¼ miles and is open to 3-year-old Thoroughbreds.
The $600,000 Grade II Jim Dandy is one to watch and draws some of the top 3-year-olds on July 29. The 1 1/8 mile race is also a prep for the Travers. It is named after Jim Dandy, who won the 1930 Travers Stakes at odds of 100 to 1, beating Triple Crown winner Gallant Fox. That historic upset is one of the big races mentioned in reference to Saratoga’s peculiar reputation as the “Graveyard of Champions.”
The $1.25 million Grade I Travers headlines the Aug. 26 card that includes eight graded stakes including seven Grade I races with three ‘Win and You’re In’ Breeders’ Cup qualifying races.
Other major races at Saratoga are the $1 million Whitney on Aug. 5, which is also a ‘Win and You’re In’ qualifying race to the Breeders’ Cup Classic. The following week on Aug. 12 is the $500,000 Fourstardave and awards the winner entry to the FanDuel Dirt Mile at the 2023 Breeders’ Cup Nov.3-4 at Santa Anita Park.
In total, 20 Grade I races are scheduled at Saratoga with four in July starting with the $500,000 Diana on July 17 for fillies and mares on the turf.
The August and September races of most interest include: (BC = Breeders’ Cup qualifier)
- Aug. 5: $500,000 Test for 3-year-old fillies
- Aug. 5: $1 million Whitney (BC) for older horses
- Aug. 5: $1 million Saratoga Derby Invitational for 3-year-olds on the turf
- Aug. 12: $500,000 Fourstardave Handicap (BC) for 3-year-olds and up on the turf
- Aug. 19: $600,000 Alabama for 3-year-old fillies
- Aug. 25: $600,000 Personal Ensign (BC) for older fillies and mares
- Aug. 26: $500,000 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial for 3-year-olds
- Aug. 26: $500,000 Bellerina (BC) for fillies and mares
- Aug. 26: $750,000 Resorts World Casino Sword Dancer (BC) for older horses on the turf
- Aug. 26: $1.25 million Travers for 3-year-olds
- Sept. 2: $600,000 Flower Bowl (BC) for older fillies and mares on the turf
- Sept. 3: $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup (BC) for 3-year-olds and up
- Sept. 4: $300,000 Hopeful for 2-year-olds
In total, there are seven major stakes races at Saratoga that are also “Win and You’re In” Breeders’ Cup qualifying races.