Saratoga
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY--For the last dozen or so years, the competition for the training title at Saratoga Race Course has become the Todd and Chad Show. The next round of the now-annual summer showdown of heavyweights in upstate New York between Todd Pletcher and Chad Brown begins Thursday, the opening day of the 154th season of racing at Saratoga. Pletcher, 55, the all-time leader, will seek his 15th championship, named to honor the late great H. Allen Jerkens. Brown, 43, who just completed a record-smashing Belmont spring/summer season, is seeking...
Amplify Horse Racing, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to promoting education and careers in the Thoroughbred industry, has announced the opening of registration for behind-the-scenes educational tours at Saratoga Race Course for youth and young adults, along with additional programming throughout the month of August in Saratoga Springs, NY. On Monday, August 1 from 5:30-7:30 p.m., community members, racing fans and industry employees are invited to the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame to attend "Amplifying the Future of Racing," a presentation about education, workforce and international opportunities in...
Trainer Chad Brown notched a record-extending seventh consecutive training title at the Belmont spring/summer meeting with 47 victories, the record for most wins earned by a trainer at a Belmont spring/summer meet. Irad Ortiz, Jr. secured the leading rider title with 48 wins, while Michael Dubb paced all owners with 16 wins. The Belmont spring/summer meet was conducted for 44 days from Apr. 28 through July 10. The previous training record of 44 victories, set by David Jacobson at the 56-day 2013 spring/summer meet, was broken when 3-year-old filly Demandsrespect...
Fasig-Tipton will offer racehorses during their traditional July time slot for the 10th straight year Monday, but with an added twist. After adding a broodmare portion to last year's auction, most of which was a dispersal, the sales company has decided to incorporate breeding stock again this year and has therefore renamed the auction the Fasig-Tipton July Horses of All Ages Sale. "Last year with the dispersal, it kind of sparked the concept," said Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning. "And you know, we had some people this year who reached out...
The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame will open two new exhibitions to the public July 14, coinciding with opening day of the Saratoga. Betting on America: The Immigrant Experience and the Hall of Fame will debut in the McBean Gallery, while Jim Raftery: A Turfotos Retrospective (from the collection of Barbara D. Livingston) opens in the von Stade Gallery. Betting on America: The Immigrant Experience and the Hall of Fame is an in-depth look the lives and impact on the sport of the Hall of Fame inductees...
The connections of impressive Saturday graded stakes winners Life Is Good (Into Mischief) and Olympiad (Speightstown) reported Sunday that both horses came out of their efforts well and are likely headed for a star-studded matchup in the Aug. 6 GI Whitney S. at Saratoga. Life Is Good, this year's GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational S. romper, bounced back from a fourth-place finish in the G1 Dubai World Cup with a dominant five-length score in Saturday's GII John Nerud S. at Belmont, earning a 112 Beyer, tied for the second-highest figure...
The New York Racing Association and trainer Marcus Vitali have reached a settlement regarding NYRA's effort to exclude the trainer from participating at its three tracks. According to NYRA spokesman Pat McKenna, the agreement requires that the terms of the settlement remain confidential. The TDN reached out to both Vitali's attorney Brad Bielly Friday in an attempt to gather more information. By mid-afternoon, he had not responded. Vitali told the TDN that he was not aware of the terms of the deal. In September, NYRA announced that it would begin...
They may just have five 2-year-olds in their budding stable, but John Bellinger and Brian Coelho of BC Stables are off to a fast start under the expert guidance of trainer D. Wayne Lukas. Their third starter became their first winner and what a winner she was! The stable's lone filly Summer Promise (Uncle Mo) romped to 'TDN Rising Stardom' in her debut at Churchill Downs Saturday. "She is a special filly," said Bellinger, who was in the winner's circle Saturday with his wife Gina. "Wayne was in Ohio for...
The New York Racing Association will welcome several sports and television celebrities to Saratoga Race Course to meet with fans during the brand-new "Stars at the Spa" entertainment series set to debut during the 2022 summer meet. The stars scheduled to visit historic Saratoga include: former New York Knicks power forward Charles Oakley Sunday, July 24; "Real Housewives of New Jersey" TV personality Teresa Giudice Sunday, July 31; and former New York Yankees All-Star and World Series champion Bernie Williams Sunday, Sept. 4. The "Stars at the Spa" series, presented...
Significant increases of more than $1.6 million to the purse schedule for the 2022 summer meet at historic Saratoga Race Course were announced Friday by the New York Racing Association, Inc. The meet begins Thursday, July 14 and continues through Monday, Sept. 5. The condition book for the Saratoga summer meet is now available online at nyra.com/Saratoga. "We're pleased to be able to offer these purse increases across the middle core of our racing program," said Frank Gabriel, Jr., NYRA's Senior Vice President of Racing Operations. "We look forward to...
A three-member panel assigned with the task of deciding whether or not the New York Racing Association was justified in punishing Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert announced its decision late Thursday afternoon, issuing a one-year suspension from the NYRA tracks, effective immediately. In April, a hearing officer recommended that Baffert be suspended for two years, so Thursday's decision was not a complete loss for the embattled trainer. After a federal judge ordered that NYRA could not impose a ban on Baffert without affording the trainer due process, a hearing...