New York Racing Association

Keeneland Race Course will be seeking a short summer race meet after losing its spring season to COVID-19 closure. Yet management at the Lexington track is trying to be mindful that such a move would have a ripple effect not only on Ellis Park, which traditionally has the Kentucky circuit all to itself during that time frame, but also the horse populations and stakes programs at Saratoga and Del Mar, the bi-coastal heavyweights that dominate American racing in the mid-July through Labor Day window. "We're looking to run an abbreviated...

The New York Racing Association and the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association have announced they will match the projected per start owners' aftercare contribution to the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance through the end of the now cancelled Aqueduct Racetrack spring meet. New York's owners donate $10 per start to the TAA, and NYRA matches that donation at the conclusion of each meet. Based on a projection of 1,200 starters through the end of April at Aqueduct, NYRA and NYTHA will contribute $24,000 to the aftercare program. "It is important that we...

As the calendar turned to mid-April, suddenly opening day at Saratoga doesn't seem that far off. The meet is set to begin in less than three months, on July 16. And while resuming racing at Belmont is of more immediate concern, it's not too early for the New York Racing Association team to begin to explore options for Saratoga, options that should include racing downstate throughout the summer. That's assuming that NYRA is allowed to race at all. The only thing we know now is that Belmont will not open...

The late Triple Crown nomination deadline, which was scheduled for Monday, will be extended to an as-yet undetermined later date under an extension agreed upon by racing officials at Churchill Downs Racetrack, the Maryland Jockey Club and the New York Racing Association. While the date of the GI Kentucky Derby has already been pushed back to Sept. 5, officials are still considering possible alternate dates for the GI Preakness S. and GI Belmont S. When all three Triple Crown dates appear to be firm, a late Triple Crown nomination closing...

Sunday training at Belmont Park will cease starting Mar. 29, the New York Racing Association (NYRA) has confirmed. The cutback to a six-day weekly training schedule comes in the wake of Thursday's news that a Belmont backstretch worker tested positive for the COVID-19 virus. The worker and his roommate, who live in a Belmont backstretch dormitory, have been in isolation since Mar. 13. That coronavirus diagnosis led to the indefinite suspension of live racing at Aqueduct Racetrack as of Mar. 20. NYRA had phased out stabling at Aqueduct at the...

Perhaps this will neatly fall in line, with the GI Preakness S. being run two weeks after the GI Kentucky Derby and the GI Belmont S. three weeks after that. That would mean a Sept. 5 Derby, a Sept. 19 Preakness and an Oct. 10 Belmont. Four weeks later, Keeneland would host the Breeders' Cup. That may be the best thing when it comes to restoring some order to a Triple Crown that has been turned upside down by the coronavirus, but it doesn't come without its own set of...

The GI Kentucky Derby has been moved from May 2 to Sept. 5 as a result of the coronavirus, Churchill Downs officials announced Tuesday. "Throughout the rapid development of the COVID-19 pandemic, our first priority has been how to best protect the safety and health of our guests, team members and community," Churchill Downs CEO Bill Carstanjen said in a statement. "As the situation evolved, we reached the difficult conclusion that we needed to reschedule. At no point did we ever consider canceling the Kentucky Derby." In the aftermath of...

Edited Press Release Jean Claude Jaramillo says his favorite memories working at the New York Racing Association, Inc. are easy choices: being a part of the security horse detail of the last two Triple Crown winners: Justify in 2018 and American Pharoah in 2015. But it's not the highlight. "That I get to be a part of this team is what I'm proudest of here," says Jaramillo, an equine investigator specialist on NYRA's four-person Safety & Integrity team and the new chair of the global Organization of Racing Investigators (ORI)....

Juan Dominguez and Tim Kelly will serve new roles as New York Racing Association Safety Stewards as part of a four-person Safety and Integrity Team dedicated to enhancing existing safety protocols at Aqueduct Racetrack, Belmont Park and Saratoga Race Course. Dominguez and Kelly will complement a unit that includes current Safety Steward Hugh Gallagher and Jean Claude Jaramillo, NYRA's Equine Investigator Specialist. The newly formed team will consult and advise stakeholders on matters relating to overall safety and integrity, including a focus on the health and welfare of equine athletes,...

With a forecast calling for sustained winds of 25-35 miles per hour with gusts as high as 60 mph, officials at the New York Racing Association canceled Friday's live program at Aqueduct. The track remained open for simulcasting. Live racing is scheduled to resume Saturday at 1 p.m. ET with a nine-race card featuring the $100,000 Jimmy Winkfield S. Later in the day Friday, Laurel cancelled after race four of its eight-race program due to similarly gusty conditions.

Tickets for the 2020 Belmont Stakes Racing Festival will go on sale to the public Thursday, Feb. 6, starting at 10 a.m. via Ticketmaster.com, the New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) announced Thursday. Highlighted by the 152nd running of the Grade I, $1.5 million Belmont S.--the oldest and most challenging leg of horse racing's vaunted Triple Crown--the Belmont S. Racing Festival will begin Thursday, June 4, and conclude Saturday, June 6. The three-day event, launched in its current format in 2015, features a unique blend of world-class racing and entertainment...

John Imbriale, who has been with the New York Racing Association for better than 40 years, has been appointed the full-time racecaller and track announcer, taking over the position held by Larry Collmus since 2014. Imbriale joins a long list of legendary racecallers in New York, including Tom Durkin, Marshall Cassidy, Chic Anderson, Dave Johnson and Fred Capossela. "John Imbriale is a central part of the fabric of thoroughbred racing in New York," said NYRA CEO & President Dave O'Rourke. "Johnny I's high level of professionalism and flawless delivery are...