Belmont Park

Perform (Good Magic) tuned up for Saturday's GI Preakness S. with a half-mile drill in :48.09 (2/42) over the main track at Belmont Park Sunday. Trained by Hall of Famer Shug McGaughey, Perform worked just after the renovation break under partly cloudy skies and temperatures in the mid-60s, completing his exercise to the outside of his maiden workmate Weyhill Road (Quality Road). McGaughey said the work was just what he hoped to see ahead of the colt's graded stakes debut. "I was very pleased with the way he worked and...

By the age of nine, most racehorses have left their best days well behind them. However, 5-1 shot Red Knight (Pure Prize) clearly did not get that memo, pulling off the most important victory of his career in Saturday's GI Man o' War S. at Belmont. Breaking from the inside gate under Irad Ortiz, Jr., the chestnut trailed the field early while racing inside of favored 3-5 European import Warren Point (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), who was caught napping at the start with Frankie Dettori in the irons. Up front, Channel...

The late Daylami (Ire) (Doyoun {Ire}) carried the Godolphin blue to victory in the GI Man o' War S. at Belmont Park fully 25 years ago and it didn't take long for the Dubai-based operation to strike again, as the outstanding Fantastic Light (Rahy) followed suit just two years later.Both stars would go on to prove victorious in the GI Breeders' Cup Turf in 1999 and 2001, respectively. No one will confuse Warren Point (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) with either of those luminaries, but the homebred bay should jump favored to...

Cynane (Omaha Beach), who became the first winner for her freshman sire (by War Front) with a front-running, 2 3/4-length debut victory in a five-furlong turf sprint at Belmont Park May 11, will likely make her next appearance in the G2 Queen Mary S. for 2-year-old fillies during the prestigious Royal Ascot meeting, trainer Tom Morley said Friday. "That's the plan at the moment," said Morley. "She came out of the race really well and she's got a great mind and really good appetite--she was screaming for her feed tub...

   In this series, the TDN takes a look at notable successes of European-based sires in North America. This week's column is highlighted by the victory of Higher Truth (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) in the GII Sheepshead Bay S. at Belmont Park on Friday.   Galileo Mare Queen Of The Bay Team Hanley, Jeff Drown and Mike Ryan's Higher Truth won the Sheepshead Bay for trainer Chad Brown (video). She was third in the 2021 GI Belmont Oaks Invitational S. Bred by Churchtown House Stud, the May foal brought 500,000gns from...

1st-BEL, $90K, Msw, 2yo, f, 5fT, 3:05 p.m. Belmont Park opens the week with a maiden sprint over the grass which includes $700,000 FTSAUG buy SAM'S TREASURE (Munnings). The Wesley Ward trainee with Irad Ortiz in the irons, counts second dam MSW Treasured Up (Medaglia d'Oro) and her half-sister GSW Choctaw Nation (Louis Quatorze) in her family. Out of Ward's stable also comes a daughter out of Freshman Sire Advertise (GB), who was a multiple Group 1 turf sprinter in Europe. Chitarra (Ire), hammered down for 300,000 guineas at the...

There was a lot to celebrate earlier this month when it was confirmed that the New York State's budget will include a $455-million loan to the New York Racing Association that will go toward a complete rebuild of Belmont Park. That means Belmont will be torn down and replaced by a new structure and that once the new building is up, racing will cease at Aqueduct. But when will it happen? What will the new track look like? And what does it mean for the yearly racing schedule? Here are...

After sitting out more than 10 years because his license was suspended by New York racing regulators, trainer Rick Dutrow returned to the winner's circle Saturday with the first he started since his banishment. Dutrow won the sixth race at Belmont with Prince of Pharoahs (American Pharoah). The 6-year-old gelding was making his first start since being claimed by Dutrow out of an April 7 race at Aqueduct. It was Dutrow's first win since Jan. 16, 2013 when he won a $20,000 claimer at Aqueduct with Colossal Gift (Songandaprayer). "It...

1st-BEL, $90K, Msw, 2yo, f, 5f, 1:00 p.m. As he is prone to do, Wesley Ward will send members of his stable to Belmont--this time a pair of juveniles--who have been working at his home base at Keeneland. The 4-5 morning line favorite is PRINCESA CELINA (Quality Road), who RNA'd at the Fasig-Tipton November sale in 2021 for $545,000, and is out of dam Lastofthsummerwine (Sky Mesa). She produced a trio of solid earners in GSW Conquest Panthera (Kitten's Joy) and his full-brother, GSP Maniacal, plus GSW Happy Like A...

The 2024 New York budget bills approved by Governor Kathy Hochul and the State Senate and Assembly and released to the public Monday includes authorization for the New York Racing Association to utilize a $455-million loan to build new Thoroughbred racing facilities at Belmont Park. With the state approval, NYRA plans construction of a new building that will completely replace the existing grandstand and clubhouse. The current 1.25-million sq foot structure, which was last renovated in 1968, will be replaced with a roughly 275,000-sq ft facility featuring modern amenities and...

Edited Press Release We Are NY Horse Racing, a coalition of small businesses, labor unions, non-profits, and trade associations aligned to amplify the sport of horse racing's importance to the New York State economy, has released an interactive map visualizing the scope of horse racing's statewide economic impact. In addition to New York's 11 Thoroughbred and harness tracks, this new map displays 249 farms and businesses connected to the sport of horse racing. "This new map clearly shows that upstate and downstate, New York is horse racing country through and...

1st-Aqueduct, $77,600, Msw, 3-26, 3yo/up, 6 1/2f, 1:18.15, ft, 2 1/4 lengths. HARRODSBURG (g, 3, Constitution--Gracer {MSW & GSP, $243,000}, by Exchange Rate), off a sharp work from the gate over at Belmont's training track Mar. 18 (.47, 1/123), vanned over to the 'Big A' for the real thing as the 3-1 third choice on the tote in this spot. Wrestling the lead away, the homebred sped down the backstretch, rounded the far turn in command by posting :45.86 for the first half-mile and extended his lead down the lane...