Saratoga to hold first awards banquet since 2019

While award winners were announced at the conclusion of the ’21 campaign, there was no resumption of the previously annual banquet. This year, the awards banquet will make its return and although it’ll take place a bit after the new year, there are eleven awards that will be voted on in addition to the two that go automatically to the Driver of the Year and Trainer of the Year. The leading driver and trainer, respectively, will take home the awards for those categories which will go to Jimmy Devaux, the leading reinsman at the Spa for the second consecutive year, and Melissa Beckwith, who will wrap up her ninth training title when the meet concludes roughly two weeks from now.

The quantity of awards has been trimmed down a bit from some seasons past although this year, a few categories have returned. With less claimers being raced at Saratoga, there will be only one award for claiming pacers. There is no category for claiming trotters or fillies and mares. Also, while there will be winners recognized for three year olds in both the pacing and trotting ranks, with a lack of significant number of freshmen competing at the Spa, there will be no award for two year olds.

This season, maybe more so than in any year in recent memory, the races for the “top awards” are completely wide open. The fact that there are no “big favorites” for Pacer of the Year, Trotter of the Year and Filly and Mare Pacer of the Year is no indicator that the top-flight horses were “down” this year but rather that the three Opens were so well-balanced in 2022.

The Open Pace, the regular Saturday evening feature this year, saw brief flashes of dominance. Early in the year, Lake Charles was an Open force and wound up with five victories in the top race for pacers. The Amanda Kelley trainee is no stranger to Open wins as he rattled off three of them in his debut campaign at the Spa in ’21. While Lake Charles hasn’t raced since September, his five Open scores tie him with fellow nominee Moonshine Kisses for most among colt and gelding pacers this year. The Jackie Greene-trained Moonshine Kisses has recorded his five wins despite having competed just fifteen times at Saratoga this year (at the time statistics closed on Thanksgiving weekend).

Two-time Pacer of the Year Crockets Cullen N is again a nominee despite having recorded just one Open victory this season. He was again a solid, high money-earning force all year long finishing third among pacers in earnings. Optical Illusion N made his U.S. debut this season and became a steady force in the Open after joining it in mid-summer. Although he recorded fewer Open wins (three) than the pair of aforementioned pacers, Optical Illusion N is a viable option for Pacer of the Year due to his money earned and consistency both before joining the featured race for pacers and after doing so. Nuttin But Finesse is the fifth nominee after having won a pair of Opens and earning over $70,000 in local tries in ’22.

The Open Trot is another race that has been wide open all year long. Though a handful of trotters have displayed dominance, they have done so for shorter spurts and without season-long consistency. No trotter won the Open more than four times this season, a feat accomplished by three of the five nominees for the track’s top trotting award. Big Box Hanover, Quadratic Bluechip and Squee Hanover all prevailed in four installments of the Sunday feature with the former two being the top money earners among trotters this year. Reign Of Honor enjoyed a stretch where he finished first or second in eight of eleven starts in the Open. Gigfy, a nominee last year, is once again nominated as a two-time Open winner and an earner of more than $85,000.

The Fillies and Mares category is an interesting one this year and is led by a seven-time Open winner. Sea Shadows owns far more Open scores than any other horse at the Spa this season but doesn’t have close to the money earned as fellow lady pacers Alittlesidehustl N, Always Watching and Dashintothebeach N. Those three have been Saratoga stalwarts all year long while Sea Shadows split her time between Saratoga and competing out of town.

Racey Rach N makes for an intriguing nominee as well as the New Zealand import won her first eleven races at the Spa before recording a pair of second place finishes en route to over $72,000 in earnings. Though she isn’t an Open mare (yet), Racey Rach N certainly displayed the kind of dominance that an award-winner should. She is trained by Lisa Zabielski who is the only trainer to have a nominee in all three of the major categories as her Optical Illusion N and Quadratic Bluechip join Racey Rach N as potential winners trained by the former Peerless McGrath Award winning conditioner.

While the “big three” races are all completely wide open, the award for Claiming Pacer of the Year is seemingly a layup. After all, Drawing Dragons not only is the biggest money earner in his category, but he’s also the top earner of any horse at Saratoga in 2022 accruing over $100,000 locally in ‘22. Melissa Beckwith trains the pacer who dominated the $15,000 claiming level and continued his brilliant campaign while stepping up in the $20,000 claimers.

Drawing Dragons is tops of a strong group of nominees that consists of Stonebridge Mach, Veneno and Vergeofgreatness N. Three-year-old pacing nominees are: Athens Seelster, Lannister Hanover and Bunny Lake Pacing Series Champion Way Too Sweet, the top money earner of the group. The trio of contenders for Three-Year-Old Trotter of the Year is an extremely viable one. Makadushin N Cheez, Perfect Vixen and Why U Bugging have all put together seasons that are nothing shy of brilliant.

Makadushin N Cheez has become an Open Trotter after enjoying a six-figure campaign, the majority of which came in Saratoga starts. Perfect Vixen dominated action in a springtime at the Spa that was highlighted by a victory in the John Mongeon Memorial Trotting Series before she competed at a high level in the New York Sire Stakes this summer. Why U Bugging has truly been a Saratoga horse and has assembled a resume that includes twelve wins and nine seconds while hitting the board in 26 of 30 starts en route to over $92,000, the fourth highest tally for any horse at the track this year.

Next week in this column, we will reveal the nominees for the “people awards” with the Johnny Page, Peerless McGrath, Horseman and Horsewoman of the Year honors up for grabs.

Live racing takes place on Saturdays starting at 5pm and on Sunday and Monday afternoons beginning at 12 noon until the season wraps up on December 18th.

by Mike Sardella, for The Saratogian