New York Racing Association board chairman David Skorton said April 29 he would be “less than happy” if a new chief executive officer had not been named by June 8, day of the Belmont Stakes (gr. I). When a June 10 board meeting was announced in the run-up to the Belmont, rumors circulated broadly that…
When racing returned to New York State after nearly three years, shuttered due to stringent anti-gambling restrictions, the Brooklyn Handicap, first run in 1887, came with it. With survival, though, came transplantation, as the race was moved out of its eponymous borough, from the Gravesend track to Belmont Park. And with transplantation came a whiff…
On Belmont day 2006, the name of one New York Hall of Famer and racing legend was swapped out for another, when the Riva Ridge Stakes became the Woody Stephens. Stephens’ legacy is cemented in his long list of accomplishments, among them the 11 champions he trained, the Eclipse he won as the nation’s top…
Belmont Park: The Grade I, $1 million Belmont Stakes at 1 1/2 miles #1 Frac Daddy: Hit-or-miss type was a decent second to fellow entrant Overanalyze in a painfully slow GI Arkansas Derby, then was 16th in the Kentucky Derby in his last, so he’ll need a massive form reversal to factor. McPeek charge will…
With no Triple Crown on the line in this year’s Belmont Stakes, we don’t need to worry about rooting for history and we can focus on making money. The race isn’t called the test of the champion for nothing: the winner will have to have the stamina to run a mile and a half, longer…
Tomorrow at Belmont Park, graded stakes step aside to make way for a day of New York-bred racing. Seven stakes races offering combined purses of $850,000 will be headlined by the first running of the $150,000 Commentator, named in honor of the New York-bred who won the Whitney Handicap in 2005 and 2008. In 2003,…
Celebrity Chef Bobby Flay doesn’t have a horse running in this year’s Belmont Stakes, but next Thursday night, he’ll join his two passions—food and horse racing—to support two major racing charities. Each year, the Jockey Club, which is the breed registry for Thoroughbred racing, holds the official Belmont Stakes Charity Celebration, to be held this year…
…the owners of the race tracks in this vicinity are calling back the banished steeds of speed and bidding the admirers of the same to prepare for a Summer made joyous in the old way… —New York Times, March 1, 1913 Thoroughbred horse racing was back. It was May 30, 1913, when Belmont Park re-opened…
When Dan Silver got to Penn National last fall to serve as the track’s director of racing operations, one of the first things he did was to meet with racing secretary Dave Bailey and corporate vice-president of racing Chris McErlean. The three men looked at the national stakes schedule, trying to find a spot for…
If the only time you pay attention to horse racing is during the Triple Crown, you might think that going to the races is a fairly upmarket affair. Celebrity red-carpet entrances, features on famous horse owners, and segments on fashion, hats, and fancy cocktails are pretty much de rigeur in mainstream coverage and industry PR…
Brooklyn Backstretch 