Jockey Manny Franco Ties Saratoga Single-Day Win Record With Six Victories, Capped by Bottas in Hall of Fame Stakes

Jockey Manny Franco delivered one of the most memorable afternoons of the entire Saratoga meet on Aug. 7, riding Bottas to victory in the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame Stakes (G2T) while tying the track’s single-day record of six wins. The 1-mile inner turf feature capped a card in which Franco swept five consecutive races before adding the graded stakes triumph as his sixth.

Franco’s six-win day puts him alongside Irad Ortiz Jr., who matched the mark on July 25, and Hall of Famers John Velazquez and the retired Ramon Dominguez, both of whom previously shared the Saratoga record. For bettors tracking the meet’s top riders, it’s the kind of performance that can shift how sportsbooks price a jockey’s mounts for the rest of the summer.

A Fitting Win on a Hall of Fame Day

Bottas is trained by Miguel Clement, whose late father, longtime conditioner Christophe Clement, was inducted into the Racing Hall of Fame just hours earlier at the nearby Humphrey S. Finney Sales Pavilion. The elder Clement won the Hall of Fame Stakes himself in 2020 with Decorated Invader, making his son’s victory in the same race a poignant continuation.

“There’s three very important races for us at this Saratoga meet, and this is one of the three,” Miguel Clement said afterward, pointing to the Aug. 8 Fourstardave and the Aug. 15 Christophe Clement Stakes as the other two targets he most wants to win this meet.

Bottas Breaks Through in the $400,000 Stakes

Owned by Qatari businessman Abdulhadi Mana Al-Hajri under the Dahman stable name, Bottas produced a strong late kick to win by 1 1/2 lengths over Blinging It Back, with favorite Touch of Fire finishing a neck back in third in the seven-horse field of 3-year-olds. The winner returned $9.24 as the second choice, covering the distance in 1:34.67 over a firm course with a final furlong in :11.64.

The victory pushed Bottas’ career record to 3-0-1 in six starts with $461,000 in earnings. It marked his second graded stakes win, following last year’s Pilgrim Stakes (G2T) triumph. Bloodstock agent Case Clay, who signed the ticket for Al-Hajri when the Vekoma colt sold for $300,000 at the 2025 Ocala Breeders’ Sales Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training, called the win especially meaningful given the timing of Christophe Clement’s induction. Bettors following the meet’s graded stakes results can check the latest horse racing bonus offers before wagering on upcoming Saratoga cards.

“It’s very special to win — today of all days — the Hall of Fame when Christophe got inducted,” Clay said. “He was a very special man, and such a special family, all of them, including Nicolas.” Clay added that Dahman’s racing operation has focused primarily on turf events in the United States, and that Bottas was purchased specifically with that surface in mind, a plan that has now paid off with two graded stakes victories on the grass.

Franco’s Historic Day at the Spa

Franco’s record-tying performance comes during a meet that has already seen milestone efforts, including Todd Pletcher matching a training-side Saratoga record with five wins in a single day earlier this month. For jockeys, matching the six-win mark is rare enough that only three riders in recent memory — Ortiz, Velazquez, and Dominguez — had done it before Franco’s Aug. 7 sweep.

Franco entered the Hall of Fame Stakes having already won five straight races on the card, a run that built anticipation among the Saratoga crowd well before Bottas even stepped into the gate. By the time the field turned for home in the featured turf event, Franco was already etched into the record books alongside some of the sport’s biggest names, and the graded stakes score on Bottas turned a big day into an unforgettable one.

“I’m in the sky right now,” Franco said of his six wins. “It’s unbelievable, doing it right here in Saratoga, it means more. It means a lot. I’m just happy to get these opportunities.” Franco currently ranks among the meet’s win leaders, and performances like this one only add to his case as one of the top riders at this summer’s Saratoga meet.

With the Fourstardave and Christophe Clement Stakes still ahead on the calendar, bettors will be watching closely to see whether Franco and the Clement barn can keep the momentum going through the rest of the meet. Anyone looking to get in on the action can compare the best apps to bet on horse racing ahead of the next big Saratoga stakes race.