SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.–At the end of Sunday's fourth race–the GIII, $225,000 Prioress, jockey Manny Franco let loose.The 31-year-old from Puerto Rico had just won the six-furlong race for 3-year-old fillies easily as Mashallah, the 2-5 favorite, won by five lengths. When Franco and Mashallah, trained by Brendan Walsh, cruised past the finish line, he stood up, then pumped his right fist. Then, for emphasis, he did it again.Why not?With the victory, Franco clinched his first riding title at Saratoga. The Prioress was his 68th win of the season, pushing him one past Flavien Prat. Prat can't catch him as he was riding at Kentucky Downs on Sunday and will be there on Monday, which is closing day at Saratoga.Jose Ortiz has 66 Saratoga winners, but he is also at Kentucky Downs Labor Day weekend.“This was one of the accomplishments I had on my bucket list,” Franco said in the Saratoga winner's circle after the Prioress. “Finally, we made it.”Franco has been a mainstay on the New York circuit as he has won multiple riding titles at Belmont and Aqueduct, and he has finished the year as the overall leading rider at New York Racing Association tracks four times.Franco won his 69th race in the Saratoga ninth race aboard Vekinda (Vekoma) for trainer George Weaver. That broke the all-time record of 68, which was first set by Ramon Dominguez in 2012 and tied by Franco earlier Sunday.He wasn't done. Win No. 70 came in the GI Hopeful Stakes with The Good Life (Life IS Good). That was a four-length win.Dominguez got his 68 in 40 days; Franco tied and passed it on the 44th day of the 45-day Saratoga meet.“This means everything to me,” Franco said. “I've won at Aqueduct, and I've won at Belmont. I wanted this one for sure. This is the best jockey colony.”This summer, he won six graded stakes races including four Grade Is–the Travers with Leading Change (Gun Runner), the Alabama with My Gun's Loaded (Gun Runner), the Christophe Clement with Survie (Ire) (Churchill {Ire}) and the Hopeful.He also won races in bunches and had a six-win day on Aug. 7.John Panagot, Franco's agent, said his client could have gone to Kentucky Downs–where a good chunk of the Saratoga riders has gone to chase the huge purses – but opted to stay here.Franco rode Caroline St. Beat (Tiz the Law) to an allowance win in Saratoga on Travers Day and could have rode him in the $3 million Nashville Derby on Saturday. Caroline St. Beat won that race at odds of 17-1.“We had opportunities to go, but that was not the plan,” Panagot said. “You win the title here, you win a lot of races, and you do pretty well with the money. You would have signed up for half of what Manny has done. He just blew the lid off it, and he was lights out for two months up here.”In the race for leading trainer, Chad Brown drew ever closer to his sixth straight title and ninth overall. Brown won three races Sunday to increase his lead over Linda Rice, who had one win Sunday to 42-37. Brown has eight horses entered in five races Monday and Rice has 10 horses entered in seven races.Brown shared the title with Todd Pletcher last year and he and Rice were co-winners in 2023. Renegade's Plans Yet to be DeterminedIt was a disappointment, absolutely, when Renegade (Into Mischief) was never a factor in the GI, $1.25 million Travers Stakes. He finished a discouraging eighth and was really never in it after being fractious in the gate and then getting slammed by Ocelli (Connect) when the race started.The sting has started to fade–a bit–for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher, but what is next for the 3-year-old remains to be seen.“He has gone back to the track, he looks good, seems fine,” Pletcher said outside his office at the Oklahoma Training Track. “Physically, he is in very good shape.”How that translates into what comes next remains to be seen. Pletcher said he had a long conversation with co-owner Mike Repole–all his calls with Repole are marathons–and what to do about Renegade was a main topic.When the call was over, the only sure thing was that there was no sure thing regarding what comes next for the horse, who is also owned by Robert and Lawana Low.“We ended (the call) by saying we would see how he is doing in a week and then firm up a plan,” Pletcher said. “It is possible (he could run again this year).”Pletcher did say that the Breeders' Cup might not be in the plans, at least not right now.Renegade has raced nine times in his career and has three wins, three seconds and two thirds. He won the GII Jim Dandy before the Travers and won the GI Arkansas Derby on his way to the GI Kentucky Derby where he was beat a neck by Golden Tempo (Curlin).He also finished third in the GI Belmont Stakes.In the Travers, he was ridden for the first time by Tyler Gaffalione, who was subbing for Irad Ortiz Jr., who was out with a bruised foot and still has not returned to riding. One More DayWant proof that summer is just about spent in the Spa City? Take a walk around the backstretch or the Oklahoma Training Track at Saratoga.Plenty of barns that housed some of the finest thoroughbreds in the land are empty. Horses that spent the last two months in the Spa city have left for New York or Kentucky or Maryland or perhaps Florida.Names like Golden Tempo (Curlin), Englishman, Leading Change (Gun Runner) and Napoleon Solo (Liam's Map) have departed to prepare for their next assignments.The horsemen, too, have begun to scatter. Trainers are gone, some of the jockeys, too.Sunday morning brought a crisp, cool air to the region, a promise that the return to fall is not far off. The 157thsummer of racing at Saratoga is about spent. Closing day is Monday.“It's kind of sad,” said trainer Dale Romans, who left Friday to head back home to Kentucky. “It's like summer camp being over and we've got to go back to school. It's kind of a bummer.” The post Saratoga Notes, Presented by NYRA Bets: Franco Wins First Saratoga Riding Title appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.