Now that the Saratoga’s longest-ever summer meet is over, it’s time for my annual look back at some of my favorite photos I took. I had the pleasure of shooting for The Saratoga Special again this summer, capturing morning preview photos as well as race day shots. In this post, I will share the second batch of favorite photos taken during morning training. Click here to view my other posts about the track.
Dubai World Cup winner Magnitude gallops over the Oklahoma Track with regular rider Roberto Howell onboard. Click here to read the online edition of this issue of The Special.
Multiple graded stakes winner Tawny Port ad rider Rafy pause for a photo.
Grade 1 winner Baeza awaits a rider.
Multiple grade 1 winner Deterministic gets ready to head out to the Oklahoma Track.
Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes winner Golden Tempo returns from the main track with assistant trainer Enrique Miranda onboard.
Tawny Port makes his way over the Oklahoma Track. Click here to read the online edition of this issue of The Special.
I love walking along Horse Haven at the Oklahoma Track and imagining the horses running by at Saratoga’s first Thoroughbred meet in 1863.
Grade 1 winner Renegade gets ready to breeze over the main track with rider Nora McCormack onboard.
Golden Tempo gallops over the main track with Enrique Miranda onboard. Click here to read the online edition of this issue of The Special.
Trainer Cherie DeVaux keeps an eye on Golden Tempo from atop her pony Briefcase Bully.
Dual Saratoga graded stakes winner Survie gallops over the Oklahoma Track with assistant trainer Antonia Peck onboard.
Brendan Walsh trainees Real Restraint and Title Role are buds!
The time stamp on this photo is 5:29 AM, taken just about a minute before the first horse came out on the track. It’s a view that doesn’t get old.
Preakness Stakes winner Napoleon solo jogs over the main track early in the morning.
Multiple grade 1 winner Counting Stars gallops over the main track in preparation for a start in the Grade I Alabama Stakes, where she finished third. Click here to read the online edition of this issue of The Special.
Grade 1 winner Sandman settles in at the Spa after a lengthy layoff.
Golden Tempo (inside), with jockey José Ortiz onboard, breezes in company with stablemate Paige Turner.
Stakes winner Sea Strike cools down after a breeze with Kriss Bon onboard in preparation for the Travers, where he finished sixth.
Graded stakes winner Silent Tactic heads out to the main track.
Grade I Haskell Stakes winner Baby Vino heads off the track with trainer Lindsay Schultz on the pony.
Multiple grade 1 winner Englishman takes in his surroundings on the main track.
An Amelia Green trainee gallops over the main track.
Graded stakes winner The Puma gallops over the main track.
New York-bred grade 1 winner Usha gets hot walked after a gallop.
Grade 1 winner Commandment gets a bath at the barn of Brad Cox.
Travers Stakes winner Leading Change makes his way across Union Ave. to gallop over the main track in preparation for the race.
Leading Change gets a bath back at the barn.
Leading Change gets hot walked.
Beau Valor is pictured with, from left, Kingsley the dog, groom Gilberto Rodríguez, rider Emma Nordin, and trainer George Weaver.
Multiple grade 1 winner Book’em Danno peeks out of his stall the day before he was scheduled to attempt title defense in the Grade I Forego Stakes. Unfortunately, he had to scratch after sustaining an injury while getting cast in his stall and will not return to racing until 2027.
2025 Horse of the Year Sovereignty moseys back to the barn with assistant trainer Neil Poznansky onboard and Emma Peterson on the pony.
The Saratoga backside is home to more animals than just horses. Here, trainer Adrianne DeVaux poses with her charge Sky Low Low and her companion, Gregory the goat at the Oklahoma Track.
Sovereignty gallops over the Oklahoma Track.
Leading Change gallops over the Oklahoma Track.
Horses gallop over the main track on a peaceful morning. Click here to read the online edition of this issue of The Special.
To see more of my equine photography be sure to follow me on X, Instagram and Facebook. All photos in this post © Samantha Decker and may not be reused without permission.
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