If June’s Belmont Stakes Racing Festival was a gourmet racing appetizer, it’s once again time for the main course: 46 days of the most prestigious Thoroughbred racing in America. Kicking off on July 3 and running through September 7, the traditional Saratoga Race Course summer meeting will be loaded with stars of both the equine and human variety battling it out for glory in one of the sport’s most storied arenas. There will be magical moments, big upsets, and drama at every turn—here are nine storylines to keep an eye on at the summer place to be:
1. Heated (Sibling) Rivalry
It’s traditionally a solid bet that one of the Ortiz brothers will top the Saratoga jockey standings…but which one? Last year, Irad Ortiz, Jr. won his fourth consecutive (and seventh total) Saratoga riding title at Saratoga with 59 wins, four more than his younger brother, José, who won the title in 2016, 2017, and 2019. Through the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival, Irad and José rank first and second among North American jockeys in earnings this year ($19.2 million and $17.8 million, respectively), but José’s coming in hot off winning the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes with Golden Tempo. Needless to say, both brothers are primed for another huge summer at Saratoga.
2. The Challenger
If anyone can challenge the Ortiz brothers in the jockey standings, it’s Flavien Prat, winner of the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Jockey each of the past two years. Prat finished second in the Saratoga standings with 45 wins in 2024 and third last year with 42 wins. He’s a master of the big races, as evidenced by his record 18 stakes wins (14 graded) at Saratoga in 2024. Prat is right behind the Ortiz brothers this year with $17.1 million in earnings as of early June and is the clear top threat to their perch atop the Spa standings.
3. Training Day
While the jockeys will go head-to-head on horseback, two top Saratoga trainers will be battling it out behind the scenes. Todd Pletcher and Chad Brown finished tied atop the Saratoga trainer standings with 32 wins each in 2025, and figure to compete once again for the title this summer. Pletcher, a Hall of Famer who’s won a record eight Eclipse Awards and a record 15 Saratoga training titles, is enjoying another strong year in 2026 with nine graded stakes wins through early June. Brown, meanwhile, an eight-time leading trainer at Saratoga, has won 13 graded stakes so far this year, including his first Kentucky Oaks. Expect another down-to-the-wire battle among these two heavyweight trainers at Saratoga.
4. Stable Geniuses
Last year, Mike Repole’s Repole Stable earned the Saratoga leading owner title, snapping the seven-year reign of Seth Klarman’s Klaravich Stables atop the Spa standings by a 14-11 margin. The two powerhouse stables figure to once again be at or near the top of the standings this summer, as Pletcher trains the majority of Repole’s horses and Brown trains for Klaravich.
5. An Eclipse, Again?
Hall of Famer Bill Mott won his fifth Eclipse Award for Outstanding Trainer in 2025 and is once again in the early conversation for the honor this year. Led by reigning Horse of the Year Sovereignty, Mott’s stable is loaded heading into Saratoga, including standouts Chief Wallabee, Knightsbridge, Grand Job, Stars and Stripes, and Pass the Hat—all graded stakes winners this year. More than 5,600 wins into a career that began as a teenager in 1973, Mott shows no signs of slowing down.
6. Older and Wiser
Speaking of Sovereignty, the Mott horse is expected to return to Saratoga in a big way. Last year’s Travers winner is just one of the top older horses in the country expected to run in the Whitney, which will be contested for the 99th time on August 8. Other possible contenders? White Abarrio, who won the 2023 Whitney and defeated Sovereignty earlier this year in the Oaklawn Handicap; Magnitude, the 2026 Dubai World Cup winner; and Nysos, who romped in the Woody Stephens during the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival.
7. A Star Is Born
If The Whitney is for horses who’ve already proven themselves on the track, The Spinaway, on September 5, and The Hopeful, on September 6, are for 2-year-olds who have yet to do so. A Saratoga staple since 1903, The Hopeful has been won by legends such as Hall of Famers Regret, Man o’ War, Whirlaway, Native Dancer, Nashua, Buckpasser, and Affirmed, and in recent years has been a part of championship seasons for the likes of Jackie’s Warrior, Forte, and Ted Noffey. The Spinaway (The Hopeful’s filly counterpart) counts Hall of Famers Miss Woodford, Top Flight, and Ashado among its winners. Tune in Labor Day weekend to witness greatness in the making.
8. Threepeat Offender
When it comes to Steeplechase, all eyes are on Jimmy P, who won the Grade 1 Beverly R. Steinman Handicap during the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival at Saratoga Race Course, his unquestioned favorite track. The win marked the Keri Brion–trained 8-year-old’s third win at the Spa; he’s won each of the past two editions of the Grade 1 Jonathan Sheppard handicap and will take aim at his third consecutive Sheppard victory on September 2.
9. A Golden Year
And then there’s Golden Tempo, the horse everyone in Saratoga is talking about. Trained by the Saratoga Springs–born Cherie DeVaux, Golden Tempo is on the same path Sovereignty took en route to being voted the Eclipse Award Horse of the Year and Champion 3-Year-Old Male in 2025: Both horses won the Derby then skipped the Preakness before winning the Belmont. Sovereignty then took the Jim Dandy and Travers at the Spa, the same races DeVaux pointed to as her preferred targets for Golden Tempo after his Belmont victory. Save the dates—the Jim Dandy returns August 1, and the Travers, the annual centerpiece of the Saratoga Race Course meeting, will this year run on August 29. We’ll see you there.
