Saez Storms the Spa

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY—It's easy to get overlooked in the Saratoga jockeys' room. Between Hall of Famers like John Velazquez and Javier Castellano, superstars like the Ortiz brothers and up-and-comers like Manny Franco and Ricardo Santana, Jr., one could be a successful rider, indeed one of the most successful in the country, and fly under the radar. That's been the case with Luis Saez, the 26-year-old Panamanian who perennially finishes in the top 10 in earnings despite not receiving first or second-call mounts for any powerhouse barns. This meet, however, Saez turned heads with a huge opening week at the Spa and has stayed hot to rack up 23 wins, good for third in the standings, heading into the season's second half. He also is, barring injury, a cinch to shatter his previous personal earnings best of $13,403,109, set in 2017, currently sitting sixth in the nationwide standings with over $11 million banked and several months to go.

Saez was born and raised in a small town in the province of Darien, into a horse racing culture and to a father who had a farm with horses he could ride, but who wasn't involved in the sport itself. He caught the bug at a young age and was encouraged by his father to pursue that passion.

“I really liked racing,” the fresh-faced jockey said while sitting in the backyard at Saratoga. “I used to hear it on the radio, because we didn't have TV in our town, but it sounded pretty exciting and I wanted to try it. So my dad took me to the racetrack in Panama when I was nine years old, and I went to jockey school when I was 14. I started learning the sport, and now I'm here.”

Saez's formal horseman training came right around the time when Angel Arroyo, who happens to be his cousin, made the jump to the United States. Arroyo settled in New York and became a quality journeyman, but just as importantly, he blazed the trail for young Luis to follow. Saez made the leap in 2008, and he in turn made it a reality for his two younger brothers, Sebastian and ill-fated Juan, to go after their dreams too.

“It took a little while to feel comfortable, but back in those days, you could ride young,” Saez recalled of his early days Stateside as a 16-year-old apprentice.

Settling in South Florida, Saez won 105 races in 2009 and finished second in the voting for that year's Outstanding Apprentice Jockey Eclipse Award. Gradually growing to dominate the Gulfstream Park jockey standings, he moved his tack to New York in 2013 and that summer, earned a signature win at this historic oval, getting Will Take Charge (Unbridled's Song) up to win the GI Travers S. for D. Wayne Lukas.

“I really wanted to get to that next level,” Saez said of moving to the country's most challenging jockey colony. “New York was the biggest thing and I wanted to try to make it here. I was nervous when I first came, because this is the top, but I just tried to do my best and thank God, we did pretty good. I won a couple other big races at Saratoga in my first year, but the Travers was something else.”

The atmosphere at the Spa has agreed with Saez, who enjoys the elite level of competition as well as the pseudo-celebrity treatment riders get when walking the unique jockey path from the dirt oval back to the jockeys' quarters after each race.

“Saratoga is the biggest deal in racing,” he said. “Everybody wants to be here, and it's not easy. It's a tough meet with a lot of different, really good jockeys. I like every track, but this place is special. Walking through the crowd, it's pretty nice. When you win a race, everyone wants you to sign [autographs], take pictures. Every day I come here, I feel comfortable.”

Unlike just about every other jockey near the top of the standings, both in New York and across the country, Saez doesn't have a go-to barn that consistently supplies him with likely winners. He generally gets what's left over in Todd Pletcher's stable after John Velazquez and Javier Castellano have had their picks, and he rarely, if ever, rides for runaway leading trainer Chad Brown. Of the current top 25 in the Saratoga trainer standings, only Jeremiah Englehart (seven wins) and Phil Serpe (three) look to Saez as a high-priority jockey. Without that steady stream of mounts from the training juggernauts, it's up to the old-school hustle of Saez and agent Richard DePass to produce the kind of results they've seen this year, and this summer in particular.

“We're working pretty hard, man,” Saez said. “Every day, we're out here, all morning. I never get a day off. Even on Tuesday, with no racing, I work four, five, six horses. But we jumped and we came here to work, so I don't have a problem with it.”

Living in Long Island when he's not up at Saratoga, Saez and brother Sebastian are the only members of his family in the U.S., with his parents and three sisters still back home in Panama. With his schedule, Luis doesn't get to go home as much as he would like, so when he does take the trip, he tries to make it count. And with the level of success he's attained at this meet, he admits wistfully that it might be time to reward himself with an actual vacation after the track closes.

“I go back to Panama for three or four days when I go, because we don't have that much free time,” he said. “But when I'm done here, I think I'm going to go there for a week. To spend time with my mom, and my dad, and my town. Everybody's there.”