Saratoga
Richard Migliore, a retired jockey and now a racing analyst for NYRA and Fox Sports, joins this week's TDN Writers' Room to discuss a jam-packed card for Belmont Stakes weekend.
A berth in the G1 Melbourne Cup is at stake in Thursday's GII Belmont Gold Cup, the first of the weekend's graded stakes during the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival at Saratoga. The New York Racing Association has gone so far as to fly in one of the world's premier commentators, Victoria-based Matt Hill, to describe the action in the two-mile test--essentially two laps of the inner turf course at the Spa. Godolphin won the 2018 Melbourne Cup with Cross Counter (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) and Siskany (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) returns to...
The GI Kentucky Derby winner is here. So is the champ of the GI Preakness S. Neither of them--Mystik Dan (Goldencents) or Seize the Grey (Arrogate)--were installed as the morning-line favorite for the 156th running of the $2 million GI Belmont S. which will be run at Saratoga Race Course on Saturday. Post time is scheduled for 6:41 p.m. That honor went to Sierra Leone (Gun Runner) at the draw, which was held Monday evening at Universal Preservation Hall in downtown Saratoga Springs. Sierra Leone was made the 9-5 morning-line...
Whit Beckman was watching from behind the Churchill Downs winner's circle as the horses loaded into the gates for the GI Kentucky Derby. Honor Marie (Honor Code) was the trainer's first Derby starter and as the colt's odds dropped to 14-1 before the start of the race, Beckman liked their chances. But as many a veteran Kentucky Derby trainer can attest, a lot can happen when it's a 20-horse field. Only a few moments after the gates sprang open and Honor Marie jumped out of the seventh stall, Beckman knew...
by Tim Wilkin and Editorial Staff For the first time since before the GI Kentucky Derby, Mystik Dan (Goldencents), had a workout. And trainer Kenny McPeek is getting more and more confident that his colt, winner of the Derby and second in the GI Preakness, will be in the starting gate at Saratoga Race Course for the GI Belmont S. on June 8. Mystik Dan, with exercise rider Danny Ramsey aboard, went five furlongs in 1:01.59 (2/5) on the Oklahoma Training Track Saturday morning. He worked in company with Gould's...
The Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance (TAA) will have a presence at Saratoga Racecourse during the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival, the organization announced in a release Thursday. In addition, to highlight accredited aftercare, the New York Racing Association (NYRA) has named a race on the undercard on Friday, June 7 in honor of TAA. A presentation will be made to the winning connections, including a TAA branded blanket and gift bag. "NYRA is pleased to welcome Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance for Belmont Week at Saratoga Racecourse, particularly during this historic year when the...
A job fair to fill various positions during the 40-day Saratoga summer meet will be held June 18 from 2-7p.m. inside the 1863 Club at Saratoga Race Course. Applicants should enter through the Wright Street entrance (Gate 8) with parking available in the adjacent lot. Employment opportunities will include bartenders; betting clerks; box office personnel; bussers; cashiers; cleaners; concession supervisors; cooks; customer support technicians; guest services representatives; hospitality ambassadors; merchandise clerks; parking attendants; porters; security guards; technology interns; ticket scanners; TV and video camera operators; waitstaff; warehouse workers; and white...
The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame will play host to several on- and off-site events and programs during the week of the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival. For a complete description of events and to purchase tickets to select events, please visit https://racingmuseum.org/events. This summer's events include: Belmont Memories with Tom Durkin - June 5 Old Tavern Farm Tour - June 7 Belmont Stakes Day Saturday Morning Social, sponsored by George & Sharyn Neble, Chevaux Racing, LLC - June 8 Ongoing events during the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival:...
The Pick 6 carryover of $44,200 will be transferred to the Thursday, June 6 program at Saratoga Race Course after a pair of races included in the multi-race wager were taken off the turf on Monday's card. Following the conclusion of Race 4--the opening leg of the Pick 6 wager--and a weather delay which included significant rainfall, the New York Racing Association, Inc. took Race 6 and Race 7 off-the-turf. A total of $230,327 in new money was wagered into Monday's Pick 6 pool at a carryover takeout rate of...
A half-dozen years ago, Charlie Appleby mapped out a plan to send that year's G1 Dubai Sheema Classic winner Hawkbill (Kitten's Joy) to Hong Kong in an attempt to become the first overseas winner of the G1 Standard Chartered Champions and Chater Cup. Those plans were ultimately scuppered, owing perhaps in some part to a down-the-field finish by a then-unexposed Blue Point (Ire) (Shamardal) in the G1 Chairman's Sprint Prize the month prior. In the form of Rebel's Romance (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), Appleby surmised that he had the 'right horse'...
'TDN Rising Star' Sierra Leone (Gun Runner) will have a new running mate in the GI Belmont S. at Saratoga Race Course on June 8. After watching the GI Kentucky Derby runner-up work five furlongs in 1:02.64 (5/6) on the Oklahoma Training Track Saturday morning, Brown said he was making a rider change. Tyler Gaffalione is out; Flavien Prat is in. Sierra Leone lost the Derby by a nose to Mystik Dan (Goldencents) and finished a nose ahead of Forever Young (Jpn) (Real Steel {Jpn}). Sierra Leone is owned by...
Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas said GI Preakness S. winner Seize the Grey (Arrogate) will ship to Saratoga on Saturday, June 1 to prepare for the GI Belmont S. on June 8. "He came out of the Preakness remarkably well," Lukas said by phone from his base in Louisville, Ky. "Of all my [15 Triple Crown race winners], he might have come out of his race the best of any of them. He is doing damn good." Lukas said Seize the Grey will be the only horse from...