New York Racing Association

Saratoga Race Course will host Wish Wednesday this week, with more than 50 Make-A-Wish Vermont & Northeast New York Wish Family members visiting the track for a special day offering a new experience through the excitement of world-class thoroughbred racing. The group of Wish Kids and their families will participate in a variety of activities, culminating in a named race and trophy presentation in the winner's circle. "We are honored to support Make-A-Wish Vermont and Northeast New York and play a small part in the magic they create for children...

Flavien Prat, the reigning Eclipse Award-winner as Outstanding Jockey, earned his first riding title at a New York Racing Association meet when posting 43 wins at the Belmont at the Big A spring/summer meet which ran from May 1 through July 6. Statistics for the Belmont at the Big A spring/summer meet include the five-day Belmont Stakes Racing Festival and four-day July 4th Racing Festival, both of which were held at Saratoga Race Course. Prat, a 32-year-old native of Melun, Siene-et-Marne, France, enjoyed a major milestone at the meet when...

They got just four horses for the $100,000 Los Alamitos Derby Saturday, hardly a surprise since most stakes run at Los Al wind up with depressingly small fields. The Ashley T. Cole S. at Aqueduct attracted a field of five. At Laurel, the Deputed Testamony drew five starters and so did the Alma North S. Only four ran in the DeFrancis Memorial Dash. At least Laurel had an excuse as a number of horses expected to be shipping down from New York had to be scratched because of the quarantine...

Rob MacLennan will serve as Racing Secretary during the upcoming summer meet at Saratoga Race Course, the New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) announced in a release Friday. MacLennan joined NYRA in April 2021 as a Racing Official and was subsequently named Assistant Racing Secretary before taking on his current role as Racing Secretary in joint capacity with NYRA's Senior Director of Racing Keith Doleshel in October 2024. With Doleshel focused on other key racing department responsibilities, MacLennan will be charged solely with overseeing the writing of condition books and...

A group of horses located in Barn 66 at Saratoga Race Course have been put under a 14-day quarantine by the New York Racing Association and the New York State Gaming Commission due to a positive case of strangles. Tenacious Child (McKinzie), an unraced 2-year-old filly trained by George Weaver and stabled in Barn 66, was tested for a number of potential ailments over the weekend, and a positive test for strangles was returned Wednesday night. In addition to Barn 66, horses under the care of Weaver stabled in Barns...

The massive-scaled, $455-million rebuild of Belmont Park that is on target to be finished by September 2026 is thus far unaffected by skyrocketing tariffs on steel and aluminum, although New York Racing Association (NYRA) executives told the New York State Franchise Oversight Board (FOB) during a Friday meeting they are being vigilant about monitoring the situation. NYRA and FOB personnel have good reason to be on high alert about concerns over potential cost overruns: On June 4, President Donald Trump doubled United States tariffs on steel and aluminum imports to...

The 14-day quarantine of Barn 85 at Saratoga Race Course has been lifted by the New York State Department of Agriculture, the New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) announced Friday. As a result, all horses stabled in Barn 85 are once again permitted to enter races and train with the general horse population. Barn 85 was placed under a precautionary quarantine on May 30 following the identification of a case of strangles within that barn. The 2-year-old (Tranquil Sea) trained by Jeremiah Englehart returned a positive test for strangles on...

The 2026 running of the GI Belmont Stakes will be run at Saratoga Race Course for a third and final time, New York Governor Kathy Hochul and officials at the New York Racing Association (NYRA) said in a release Friday morning. "New York is home to world-class sports and entertainment and this final chapter of the Belmont Stakes at Saratoga Race Course honors our rich racing heritage while paving the way for a bold, new future at Belmont Park," Governor Hochul said. "Bringing the race back to Saratoga next year...

Editor's note, by Dan Ross: Despite the New York Racing Association's efforts in recent years to limit Computer Assisted Wagering (CAW) participation in the Win, Late Pick Five, and Pick Six pools, the influence these teams exert in terms of last-cycle betting impacts appears to be growing in several other key pools, according to research conducted by economics professors Marshall Gramm and Nick McKinney, both of Rhodes College in Tennessee. Indeed, they found that since 2022, the percentage share from CAW players of monies wagered last-minute into the Exacta, Trifecta,...

A pair of fillies pulled up during races at Saratoga last Friday were sent to Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital for diagnosis of injuries and are both now resting, according to updates issued by the New York Racing Association Monday. Mystifying (Curlin), who was pulled up in the stretch run by jockey Jose Ortiz after sustaining an injury to her left front during Friday's seventh race, was immediately attended to by on-track veterinarians, who stabilized the injury and transported the 4-year-old filly to Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital for further...

The 2025 Triple Crown season delivered something even more elusive than a sweep of the series by a single horse--a legitimately intriguing rivalry between two talented colts that could end up on par with the likes of Affirmed vs. Alydar or Sunday Silence vs. Easy Goer. The afterglow of the GI Belmont Stakes at Saratoga includes plenty of anticipation and speculation about when one-two finishers Sovereignty (Into Mischief) and Journalism (Curlin) might meet again. In the meantime, here are seven takeaways from Saturday's card at the Spa. 1) The Preakness...

GI Kentucky Derby winner Sovereignty (Into Mischief) tuned up for his rematch with Derby runner-up and GI Preakness Stakes winner Journalism (Curlin) in Saturday's GI Belmont Stakes with a four-furlong work in :48.84 (3/17) over the Oklahoma training track in Saratoga Sunday. The Godolphin homebred, working solo under exercise rider Neil Poznansky, was caught by NYRA clockers through splits of :12 3/5, :24 2/5 and out in 1:02 flat and 1:16 3/5. "He went well," trainer Bill Mott said of the work. "We just wanted a nice breeze, in :48,...