Tomorrow’s weather for Big Apple Showcase Day might not scream “summer!” (mid 70s, partly cloudy, occasional shower, if you were wondering), but thanks to Frost Giant and the good folks at Sunrise Stables, kids under 12 will be treated to free ice cream from Mister Softee in the backyard at Belmont Park. Sunrise Stables, partners…
Optimism was evident May 28 as the board of directors of the New York Racing Association heard Chris Kay, president and CEO, detail a number of improvements customers can expect on what could be an historic Belmont Stakes (gr. I) day.Also fueling the optimism was the realization of a number of capital projects at Aqueduct Racetrack.…
Racing fans that pulled the Kentucky Derby/Preakness infield double were treated on both days to stupendously beautiful weather, a range of high- and low-end hospitality offerings (and behavior), and terrific racing. Preakness infield denizens were treated to concerts by Lorde and a handful of other musical acts, but if the Churchill Downs infield crowd didn’t…
California Chrome will run in the Belmont Stakes, and he will wear the nasal strips that caused such a furor over the last 36 hours. Acting with unusual celerity in an industry in which change is seldom enacted easily, the New York State Gaming Commission, which regulates Thoroughbred racing in the state, issued a release…
The paint on the weathervane at Pimlico, which carries the colors of the Preakness winner, had barely dried before California Chrome’s Triple Crown bid erupted in controversy. The chestnut colt’s length and a half victory on Saturday afternoon put to rest any lingering doubts that his performance in the Kentucky Derby was the result only…
Pimlico: The Grade I, $1.5 million Preakness at 1 3/16 miles #1 Dynamic Impact: Rapidly improving son of Tiznow exits a fast win in the GIII Illinois Derby at Hawthorne but certainly tests the big boys today in his first GI assignment. Casse charge has come to hand in his last two, which includes an…
A year ago, Kentucky Derby winner Orb was practically pronounced a Triple Crown winner in the two weeks between his win at Churchill Downs and the Preakness Stakes. Whether the rigors of the prep season had their toll or whether he didn’t like the track at Pimlico, the odds-on favorite finished fourth and never won…
When it comes to marketing to women, racetracks generally rely on a familiar formula: raise money for breast cancer, promote wearing pink, emphasize fashion, and act like you’re at a garden party instead of a horse race. Black-Eyed Susan Day this Friday at Pimlico hits a lot of those notes, but it doesn’t stop there,…
The Preakness is Maryland’s race: it’s “Maryland, My Maryland” and black-eyed Susans and blue crabs. It’s so important to the state that when financial difficulties threatened racing in Maryland,the governor stepped in to make sure that the Preakness would stay in Baltimore. But 124 years ago, when financial woes imperiled the racing industry in Maryland, nothing…
Last Friday night, the local Time Warner News NY1 aired a report about fatalities at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens, linking horse racing with the contentious Central Park carriage horse issue. On the face of it, it’s not a stretch to consider the issues together; both, after all, raise issues of equine welfare; both have made…
Brooklyn Backstretch 