Whitney 2025
Another weekend, another marquee race, as the focus will be on The Spa for the Whitney Stakes. One of the signature summer races at Saratoga is this Saturday, as we’ll have a “win and in” event for 4–year-olds and up looking ahead to the Nov. 1 Breeders’ Cup Classic at Del Mar.
This is the 98th running of the Whitney Stakes and post time is slated for 5:41 p.m. ET with the horses set to go 1 ⅛ miles on what is forecast to be a picturesque afternoon for racing.
Whitney Stakes 2025 Entries, Horses, Jockeys, and Trainers:
| Post | Horse | Jockey | Trainer | Odds |
| 1 | Mindframe | J. Gomez | T. Pletcher | 5/2 |
| 2 | Skippylongstocking | J. Ortiz | S. Joseph | 10-1 |
| 3 | Highland Falls | L. Saez | B. Cox | 8-1 |
| 4 | Mama’s Gold | R. Maragh | J. Ferraro | 50-1 |
| 5 | Sierra Leone | F. Prat | C. Brown | 2-1 |
| 6 | Disarm | J. Rosario | S. Asmussen | 15-1 |
| 7 | White Abarrio | I. Ortiz Jr. | S. Joseph | 4-1 |
| 8 | Contrary Thinking | D. Davis | C. Brown | 50-1 |
| 9 | Fierceness | J. Velazquez | T. Pletcher | 9/5 |
| 10 | Post Time | S. Russell | B. Russell | 12-1 |
This is quite the esteemed and accomplished field. Mindframe (G1 Stephen Foster) and Skippylongstocking (G2 Hollywood Gold Cup) come in off of graded stakes wins, as Highland Falls (AlwOC) and Contrary Thinking (Allow) are off of triumphs at Aqueduct. Post Time also rides in off a win in the Deputed Testamony Stakes at Laurel Park.
But, Fierceness and Sierra Leone are the two bigger names in this year’s Whitney. Sierra Leone won last year’s Breeders’ Cup Classic and was second in the Kentucky Derby. Fierceness won last year’s Travers and finished second in the Classic. Will we get a Classic rematch at the finish line here or will one of the other contenders crash the party?
Here are some thoughts on each horse at the odds at time of publish:
1. Mindframe (5/2; Gomez/Pletcher): The rail post belongs to Mindframe, but he may not actually run in the race. Todd Pletcher told reporters that Mindframe is something of an insurance policy in case something goes awry with Fierceness. Mindframe is likely to run in the Jockey Club Gold Cup and may be scratched to prep for that one at the end of August.
We’ll see how it plays out, but as mentioned above, Mindframe just won the Stephen Foster at Churchill Downs and rides a three-race winning streak into this with victories in the Churchill Downs Stakes and Gulfstream Park Mile as a 4-year-old. He was runner-up in the Belmont and Haskell last year after winning his maiden and an allowance five weeks later. If he runs, he’s a major threat. It is probably telling, though, that Jose Gomez is currently slated for the ride after Irad Ortiz Jr. has had the mount in all seven of his races.
2. Skippylongstocking (10-1; J. Ortiz/Joseph): One of the older horses in the field, Skippylongstocking has two wins and two thirds as a 6-year-old. He’s coming off of the aforementioned Hollywood Gold Cup win and also had a G3 win in the Challenger Stakes back in March. He’s certainly used to being shipped by this point, as he’s run on four tracks in four races this year and ran last year’s Whitney on a muddy track. He was fifth.
His career results suggest he should be a factor, but the class of the fields he’s beaten aren’t as good as this one and he lost to third-favorite White Abarrio and another horse in the Pegasus World Cup back in January. Jose Ortiz gets the mount for Saffie Joseph.
3. Highland Falls (8-1; Saez/Cox): There are a lot of deep, deep bloodlines in this race, but Highland Falls is the only son of Curlin, as the 5-year-old won an allowance in June at Aqueduct coming off of a long break. Prior to that, Highland Falls’ last race was the Breeders’ Cup Classic, which he qualified for with a win in the Jockey Club Gold Cup on Sept. 1 at Saratoga.
He’ll likely get pointed to that race again for Brad Cox and Godolphin, but a good, tactical ride from Luis Saez here could give him a chance at the upset.
4. Mama’s Gold (50-1; Maragh/Ferraro): This is an excellent field on the whole, but the 4 post has a weak spot with Mama’s Gold. He’s a six-time career winner, but none of those wins have come in a graded stakes race. He’s also 0-for-4 this year with a couple of seconds to go with a 5th and a 7th.
5. Sierra Leone (2-1; Prat/Brown): The two Gun Runner sons are side-by-side here, as Sierra Leone draws the 5 and Disarm draws the 6. After winning the Breeders’ Cup Classic to cap off a grueling 3-year-old season, Chad Brown and the connections opted to give the horse the winter off. He returned rusty in the New Orleans Classic and finished third. More than three months later, he ran second to Mindframe in the Stephen Foster at a 2-1 price. He was last by six lengths at the quarter and half poles, but closed quite well to finish just under a length behind Mindframe.
It wasn’t the most impressive ride for Flavien Prat and he got wide on the frontstretch, where Sierra Leone didn’t have enough juice to make up all the ground. Prat is a 24% rider this year and has 26 graded stakes wins, with six G1s. I can’t help but feel like Brown and Prat were building Sierra Leone up to this one.
6. Disarm (15-1; Rosario/Asmussen): Disarm is a classic case of a horse being good, but not good enough. The son of Gun Runner and Easy Tap has an impressive bloodline, good connections with regular rider Joel Rosario and trainer Steve Asmussen, plus Winchell Thoroughbreds. And he’s run competently in his biggest tests, but his best win came in the G3 Matt Winn back in 2023 and that is one of just four wins.
He’s hit the board in 10 of 16 races. The six he hasn’t? This year’s G2 Oaklawn Handicap, the 2024 G2 Lukas Classic Stakes, G1 Whitney, and G1 Stephen Foster, the 2023 G2 Jim Dandy and G1 Kentucky Derby. He’s just not going to be good enough.
7. White Abarrio (4-1; I. Ortiz/Joseph): The most perplexing horse in the field is White Abarrio. Saffie Joseph’s other entry won this race back in 2023 and rode that victory into a Breeders’ Cup Classic triumph. Then he won one time in 2024 and it was an allowance sprint in November over seven furlongs just to get back on track. Well, apparently the time at Gulfstream Park worked because he won the Pegasus World Cup to kick off his 6-year-old season and followed it up with a win in the G3 Ghostzapper.
But when White Abarrio came north to Saratoga in June, he ran a disappointing fourth in the Met Mile. The potential is obviously there, but is it worth the risk against Fierceness and Sierra Leone? His 2023 Whitney win came against Cody’s Wish, an elite sprinter who never won at more than a mile, and Zandon, who had three career wins before retiring. And the Classic field in 2023 was rather lackluster all things considered. Irad Ortiz Jr. has the ride here.
8. Contrary Thinking (50-1; Davis/Brown): Contrary Thinking seems like an appropriate name for this Chad Brown entry, as the very lightly-raced 5-year-old who hasn’t left New York comes in off of an allowance win in June. It was a nice win for the Into Mischief colt, who went wire-to-wire. He is a good breaker from the gate and may be a strategic entry for Brown and Peter Brant, who owns a piece of Sierra Leone. Dylan Davis can give Sierra Leone an advantageous pace here.
9. Fierceness (9/5; Velazquez/Pletcher): To say that Todd Pletcher and the connections, including Mike Repole, have put a lot of emphasis on this race is an understatement. Fierceness ran second in the Met Mile here back in May for one of his two data points as a 4-year-old. He came off the shelf at Churchill to win the Alysheba during Kentucky Derby weekend and then had that Met Mile sprint. That was his first race of a mile or shorter since Oct. 7, 2023 in the G1 Champagne.
As a 3-year-old, Fierceness ran in February, March, May (Kentucky Derby), July, August, and November. As a 4-year-old, he’s raced twice. The 2024 Jim Dandy and Travers winner has three career wins and a second here. He’s going to be in the mix.
10. Post Time (12-1; Russell/Russell): The husband and wife team of Sheldon and Brittany Russell will run it back with last year’s third-place finisher in the Whitney. Post Time was a monster as a 2-year-old and a 3-year-old against some lesser fields and has just three wins since, as the level of competition has grown. The Whitney was his first start of more than a mile and he’s now done it three more times this year, winning an AOC at Laurel and a listed stakes at Laurel to go with a third in the G3 Blame at Churchill.
If you’re looking for a price to fill out exotics, Post Time seems to have taken to the distance as he’s aged. Sire Frosted had a trio of two-turn wins to his name, including the 2016 Whitney.
Whitney Stakes Predictions
My belief is that those looking for a Fierceness vs. Sierra Leone battle get precisely that. The connections and the trainers have undoubtedly pointed both standouts for this race with the $1 million purse. You can probably flip a coin as to which one wins. I think I prefer Prat to Velazquez thus prefer Sierra Leone.
Like I said, I think Post Time has a chance to fill out the tri and certainly the super here.
Prediction: 5-9-10-7
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