Saratoga

The New York Racing Association will offer increased purses for its 2021 Saratoga meet, it announced Tuesday. The first online condition book for the meet is now available at www.nyra.com/saratoga/horsemen. Physical copies will be available in the Belmont Park racing office starting Friday. All open stakes with a previously listed purse of $100,000 have been increased to $120,000. Open maiden special weights have been given a $10,000 bump to $100,000, while New York-bred MSWs have gone from $80,000 to $85,000. All other conditions have also been given purse increases. "We...

AIM Services, Inc., one of upstate New York's largest providers of support to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, will hold its eighth annual Croquet on the Green Tournament and Garden Party Aug. 3 at Gavin Park in Wilton, New York. Croquet on the Green Tournament and Garden Party, an outdoor party and amateur croquet tournament with teams of two, is open to all ages, abilities, and skill. Returning this year, is the event's Honorary Chairman, retired Hall of Fame jockey, Ramon Dominguez. "Among the people who receive services from...

The New York Racing Association announced post times for the 40-day summer meet at historic Saratoga, which will feature 76 stakes worth $21.5 million in total purses. With the exception of Travers Day, Whitney Day and closing weekend, first post on live race days will be 1:05 p.m. First post for the GI Runhappy Travers Day card Aug. 28 will be 11:35 a.m. GI Whitney S. Day Aug. 7 kicks off with a 12:35 p.m. first post. Closing weekend of the Saratoga meet will offer a 12:35 p.m. post time...

The New York Racing Association announced the on-sale dates for all hospitality areas, including tickets for individual days, for the 2021 summer meet at Saratoga, which runs July 15 through Sept. 6. Fans will have an opportunity to purchase their tickets according to the following timeline: Grandstand season passes and NYRA Bets Gift Cards will be available for purchase at more than 150 participating Capital Region Stewart's Shops June 21. Please visit stewartsshops.com for locations. Single-day tickets for reserved seats in the Clubhouse, Grandstand and The Stretch will be available...

The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) announced three new hospitality areas at Saratoga Race Course set to debut during the upcoming 2021 summer meet. The Spa Verandas at the Top of The Stretch, Tailgate at the Turn picnic area and the newly expanded section of The Stretch will be available for the first time Opening Day, Thursday, July 15. Reservations for all three areas will be available beginning Thursday, June 24 at 10:00 a.m. at www.NYRA.com/Saratoga. "As we prepare to welcome fans back to the Spa for the first...

Edited press release After racing with no fans in 2020, Saratoga will open with 100% capacity in 2021, the New York Racing Association announced today. With 70% of adult New Yorkers now vaccinated against COVID-19, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced Tuesday the immediate removal of COVID-19 protocols and restrictions for nearly all activities and industries, including outdoor sports and entertainment venues. Accordingly, NYRA will open all sections at Saratoga at 100%. The lifting of all COVID-19 protocols, including the requirement for fans to provide vaccination status, applies to all hospitality...

In less than five weeks, the King of Saratoga will head north to return to his kingdom in Upstate New York. But for now, Hall of Famer Angel Cordero, Jr. is busy at Belmont Park as the jockey agent for up-and-coming young rider Manny Franco. These days, it's not easy to make it to the top of the jockey ranks in New York, according to Cordero. "Fortunately, we have something happening here that didn't happen for a long time anywhere," he said. "We have the top nine or 10 riders...

The New York Racing Association will accept full and partial space group hospitality reservations for the 2021 season at Saratoga Race Course beginning June 16 at 10 a.m. Reservations will be available in the following hospitality areas in the popular Saratoga backyard: the Festival Tent, accommodating up to 240 guests; the Big Red Spring Tent, available for full space reservations and offering seating for up to 50 fans; and the Easy Goer, which accommodates 300. Both areas include admission and post parade programs. Additionally, full-space reservations are currently being accepted...

Seeking to overturn a three-year license revocation and $50,000 fine for "improper and corrupt conduct" levied against her by the New York State Gaming Commission (NYSGC), the legal team for trainer Linda Rice has filed a complaint in a state court alleging that the penalty is "so unduly harsh and so disproportionate to Ms. Rice's purported misconduct that it shocks one's sense of fairness and constitutes an abuse of discretion on the part of the Commission." In a complaint seeking a declaratory judgment that would either annul or vacate her...

Essential Quality (Tapit) got great marks from trainer Brad Cox the morning after the colt triumphed in a strong renewal of the GI Belmont S., and Cox said the Godolphin homebred will be pointed next to the GI Runhappy Travers S. Aug. 28 at Saratoga. The Belmont victory marked the first Grade I win as a sophomore for last year's champion 2-year-old male and offered a measure of redemption for the gray, who was the beaten favorite when fourth in last month's GI Kentucky Derby, his first career defeat. "He...

Saratoga Race Course will re-open to fans at near full capacity for the 2021 summer meet, NYRA announced Thursday in conjunction with Governor Andrew Cuomo. Season and weekly ticket plans for the 2021 meet, which opens July 15 and continues through Sept. 6, will go on sale June 9 at 10 a.m. at NYRA.com. Season admission passes will also be available for purchase at that time. In order to re-open Saratoga Race Course to fans at near full capacity, NYRA will designate most sections for vaccinated fans only, including the...

Gary Barber, Wachtel Stable and Swilcan Stable's reigning champion 2-Year-Old Filly Vequist (Nyquist) is aiming toward a late summer/fall campaign, while targeting the GI Cotillion S. at Parx Sept. 25, according to her trainer Butch Reid, Jr. "She's been training lightly down at Fair Hill Training Center in Maryland and she'll be coming back to my barn at Parx in the next 10 days," said Reid, Jr. "We're looking forward to a fall campaign with her and have our eye on the Cotillion. I could see us possibly getting her...