NYRA
The GII John A. Nerud S., a 'Win and You're In' event for the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint, and the 10-furlong GII Suburban H. will be moved up one week to the July 4 card at Belmont Park and will be televised on NBC. "By moving these races up one week, we'll be able to showcase the Stars and Stripes Racing Festival to a national audience on NBC," said Tony Allevato, NYRA CRO and President of NYRA Bets. The July 4 card will also include the Manila S., a one-mile...
The New York Racing Association announced the cancellation of Thursday's live racing program at Aqueduct Racetrack due to dangerously high winds forecast to impact the New York City metropolitan area throughout the day. The National Weather Service is calling for sustained high winds throughout the afternoon with wind gusts forecast to exceed 40 mph. In the interest of the safety of all participants, NYRA has canceled live racing. Aqueduct Racetrack will remain open for simulcasting. Live racing will return at Aqueduct Friday, Feb. 28. The eight-race card will kick off...
The New York Racing Association will increase the amount of green space available to fans by removing the group hospitality tent positioned alongside the paddock at Saratoga, it announced Tuesday. The removal of the Paddock Tent, which has been a permanent fixture at Saratoga for more than a decade, will return 240 square feet of picnic space to fans where they can enjoy an unimpeded view of the historic Saratoga paddock. The Paddock Tent will be eliminated prior to the start of the 2020 summer meet at Saratoga Race Course,...
The stakes schedule for the 51-day Belmont Park spring/summer meet, featuring 58 total stakes races worth $18.65 million starting Friday, Apr. 24 through Sunday, July 12, was announced by the New York Racing Association, Inc. Saturday. The meet will offer 11 total Grade I contests and five races with purses of $1 million or higher, with the first four of those contests coming during the three-day GI Belmont Stakes Racing Festival from Thursday, June 4 through Saturday, June 6. The festival will encompass 17 total stakes, including eight Grade Is...
Bruce Johnstone, who transitioned from a trainer to management at the New York Racing Association, the last 13 years of which he spent as Manager of Racing Operations, died Thursday following a lengthy battle with cancer. He was 76. "Bruce was a true horseman who used the lessons of a lifetime to make all of us better in so many big and small ways," said NYRA CEO and President Dave O'Rourke. "He was a man of impeccable integrity who was a beloved member of the thoroughbred racing community here in...
America's Day at the Races, presented by America's Best Racing, Runhappy and Claiborne Farm and produced by NYRA, returns to FS2 Feb. 8 with a 3 1/2-hour show from 3 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. It will cover live stakes action from Aqueduct, Oaklawn, Santa Anita and four stakes from Tampa Bay, including the GIII Sam F. Davis S. Other featured races include the Jimmy Winkfield S. at Aqueduct, the King Cotton S. at Oaklawn and the GII Las Virgenes S. America's Day at the Races will air on most Saturdays...
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...
The Consumer Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee held a major hearing today on the Horseracing Integrity Act (HIA) that brought together horse racing industry heavy weights and representatives from two major animal welfare groups to advocate for passage. Congressman Paul D. Tonko (D-NY) spoke at a hearing Tuesday in support of H.R. 1754: the Horseracing Integrity Act, legislation that would establish a non-governmental anti-doping authority responsible for implementing a national, uniform medication program throughout the sport. Tonko introduced the bill last year with fellow Congressional Horse Caucus...
It was about 9:15 a.m. on a chilly day at Belmont and as I headed down the aisle towards the back door of Barn 44 for what felt like the 50th time since arriving at 5:15 a.m., a hot walker stopped me in my tracks saying with a laugh, "You two started neck and neck earlier, but now she has 10 lengths on you." The woman he was referring to was top trainer Linda Rice and he couldn't have summed her up much better. A client once compared Rice to...
The New York Racing Association's 2019 all-sources handle was $2,108,126,369. Also, for the first time in history, the Saratoga meet generated more than $700 million in all-sources handle at $705,343,949. Inclement weather forced the full cancellation of seven race days and partial cancellation of six cards during the year. As a result, there were 217 race days in 2019 at NYRA tracks with average daily handle of $9,714,868 compared to 2018 when 219 days of racing resulted in a daily average of $9,650,267. The 2019 season featured 2,000 races at...
News Analysis When NYRA reached the halfway point of its 2019 Saratoga meet Wednesday, all-sources handle was $320,684,714, or 2.3 percent higher than the number posted after the 20th racing day a year earlier. While that may seem like only a minor increase in handle, the number is more impressive than it may look on paper. For several reasons, comparing Saratoga 2019 vs. 2018 is like comparing pineapples to watermelons, but there is a key factor involved in those numbers that tells you just how well NYRA has broken out...
The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) announced the passing of the longtime director of horsemen's relations Carmen Barrera, who died unexpectedly Thursday in Saratoga Springs, New York. She was 60. Barrera joined NYRA in 1978, the same year that her uncle Laz Barrera campaigned Triple Crown winner Affirmed, and began her career at NYRA in guest services as a white cap before moving to horsemen's relations. She spent 41 years at NYRA in total. Her father, Luis, was a trainer as well, campaigning Summing to victory in the 1981...