New York Racing Association
Martin Panza will leave his position as Senior Vice President of Racing Operations at the New York Racing Association (NYRA) effective at the conclusion of the Belmont Park fall meet Oct. 31. Panza has been in charge of the leadership and oversight of racing functions at NYRA since he joined the organization in 2013. He has also been responsible for the overall development, planning, and execution of NYRA's stakes offerings and daily racing programs, including changing the scheduling of major stakes on individual days to blockbuster events featuring multiple significant...
After a two-year absence, the Racing and Gaming Conference is back. The two-day conference will kick off Aug. 16 and will be held in the 1863 Club on the grounds of Saratoga Race Course. With the goal of examining industry trends and challenges facing the sport, the conference was known for bringing together notable industry leaders from across a wide spectrum, including racing officials, regulators and politicians. This year, more than 40 gaming and racing industry professionals will participate in 14 sessions as speakers and panelists throughout the two days....
The New York Racing Association will honor the late horseman when it presents the Bruce Johnstone Best Turned Out Horse Award to the groom of the horse deemed by NYRA racing officials to be best presented in the paddock ahead of the GI Longines Test at Saratoga Aug. 7. The winning groom will receive a $150 gift card. Johnstone, who passed last February, transitioned from a successful career as a trainer to management at NYRA, where he spent the last 13 years of his career as Manager of Racing Operations....
The system, whatever that has come to mean, failed badly last week when Marcus Vitali, one of the sport's most controversial trainers, was allowed to start a horse at Saratoga. Then again, should anyone have been surprised? This was just the latest example of this being a sport that is so dysfunctional, its regulatory systems so weak, that it is completely unable to police itself. Help is on its way. Some day, the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) will be implemented and a central body led by the U.S....
Junior Alvarado, Julien Leparoux, Deshawn Parker, Gerard Melancon and Scott Stevens are finalists for the 2021 Mike Venezia Memorial Award, the New York Racing Association announced Sunday. Created in 1989, the Mike Venezia Memorial Award is awarded to a jockey who displays the extraordinary sportsmanship and citizenship that personified Venezia, who died as the result of injuries suffered in a spill in 1988. Venezia, a native of Brooklyn, N.Y., won more than 2,300 races during his 25-year career. All active jockeys in the continental U.S. are eligible to vote for...
Handle for the opening four-day week of the Saratoga meet soared to more than $90 million, easily besting the corresponding 2020 and 2019 numbers. The New York Racing Association added a day to the previous three-day opening week Saratoga schedule in 2019. The exact handle total for the 41-race week was $90,112,254, an increase of 12.18% from last year's number of $80,325,660, which was affected by the lack of spectators at Saratoga due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It also represents an increase of 22.7% from the $73,441,101 total in 2019....
Edited Press Release The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) and the New York State Gaming Commission (NYSGC) have placed Barn 86 at Saratoga Race Course under a precautionary quarantine until further notice due to a positive case of Equine Herpesvirus-1 in that barn. The unnamed, unraced filly, who is trained by Jorge Abreu, was sent to Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital on Sunday, July 11 after developing a fever. She was subsequently tested for a number of potential ailments, and a positive test for EHV-1 was returned on Thursday...
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Once again, Saratoga opens its world-renowned race meet with the question: How many? During the COVID-19 summer of 2020, the issue was whether there might be some loosening on the ban on spectators during the 40-day season. That never happened, though a limited number of owners were allowed to see their horses run, and some of the world's best Thoroughbreds played to a oh-so quiet empty house at America's oldest race track. With restrictions completely lifted in New York State in time for the 153rd season,...
The New York Racing Association will unveil the new Carmen M. Barrera Horsemen's Lounge Thursday at Saratoga Race Course. Formerly known as the Saratoga Room, the horsemen's lounge has been renovated and renamed to honor the memory of Carmen M. Barrera, NYRA's longtime director of horsemen's relations who died unexpectedly Aug. 8, 2019. "NYRA and New York's racing community at large owe Carmen a debt of gratitude for her decades of service to our sport," said Martin Panza, NYRA Senior Vice President of Racing Operations. "That she will now have...
The New York Racing Association will honor Capital Region frontline workers for their dedication and service to the community throughout the Covid-19 pandemic during Health Care Heroes and First Responders Day, presented by CDPHP, at Saratoga Race Course Friday. The day will feature free grandstand admission for all health care professionals and first responders with proper identification and races will be dedicated to doctors, nurses, nurse practitioners, physician assistants and vaccine site workers, as well as local police officers, firefighters, EMTs and paramedics. NYRA also announced its Hometown Hero program,...
Chad Brown won 32 races to capture his sixth consecutive trainer's title at the Belmont spring/summer meet, which opened Apr. 22 and concluded Sunday. His win total was five more than second-place finisher Christophe Clement. Rob Atras was third with 19 wins, while Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher and Mike Maker each finished with 18 victories. "It takes a lot of good horses, loyal and patient owners and, of course, the team," Brown said. "This meet wasn't easy. We had a bad virus run through the barn and that really...
The 11-race Stars and Stripes Day card at Belmont Park Saturday generated $21,535,076 in all-sources handle. The card featured the $1-million GI Belmont Derby and the $700,000 GI Belmont Oaks. The Derby and Oaks kicked off the New York Racing Association's Turf Triple series which will continue in the males division with the Aug. 7 $1-million GI Saratoga Derby Invitational and on the distaff side with the Aug. 8 Saratoga Oaks. Saturday's Belmont card, which also included the GIII Victory Ride S., attracted an on-track crowd of 3,574 and on-track...
