Saratoga

With the construction of the new Belmont Park scheduled to begin after the spring 2024 meet, and plans for the 2025 event still uncertain, the New York Racing Association (NYRA) expressed their preference that a non-Belmont-Park Belmont Stakes be held at Saratoga rather than Aqueduct. "Should the construction of a new Belmont Park require the Belmont Stakes to be run at a different venue, then NYRA's preference would absolutely be to hold the event at Saratoga Racecourse," said NYRA's Director of Communications, Patrick McKenna, in a text to the TDN...

As live racing cancellations continued to mount Wednesday in light of unhealthy air quality due to residual smoke from Canadian wildfires, training will be prohibited Thursday morning at both Belmont Park and Saratoga Race Course, the New York Racing Association (NYRA) announced Wednesday evening. This is particularly impactful as Belmont's three-day Belmont Stakes Racing Festival is scheduled to kick off Thursday afternoon. A decision regarding Thursday's live racing program at Belmont, which has a first post of 3:05 p.m. and will feature the GII Wonder Again S. for 3-year-old fillies...

Even in the heyday of the great owner-breeders, it would have been remarkable for a Classic winner to represent the seventh generation of a single program. In the commercial era, it is beyond extraordinary. Yet in the long, tenuous line linking GI Preakness S. winner National Treasure (Quality Road) to his foundation mare Mono, only once did Peter Blum come close to letting it break. That was when a Mt. Livermore filly named Proposal was sold as a 2-year-old at Keeneland in 1999, for $375,000. "I sold her to John...

9th-Churchill Downs, $123,240, Msw, 5-21, 3yo/up, 1 1/16mT, 1:43.89, fm, 1 3/4 lengths. TAKING CANDY (c, 3, Twirling Candy--Taking Aim, by Trappe Shot), not seen since his debut last August at Saratoga in a route over the turf where he finished a well-beaten sixth, returned here as the 8-1 choice. The bay colt settled mid-pack as the leaders tried to slow the pace down the backstretch. Into the far turn, Taking Candy looked for running room along the rail, cut to the three path at the top of the lane,...

There are plans to significantly enhance opportunities for fans to experience the Saratoga Breakfast and Breeding Farm Tour package the New York Racing Association, Inc. announced Friday. Expanded due to its popularity in 2022, the Saratoga Breakfast and Breeding Farm Tour will be offered this year every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday during the Saratoga meet and will now feature two active thoroughbred breeding farms, Song Hill Thoroughbreds and Old Tavern Farm. "Last year's inaugural Saratoga Breakfast and Breeding Farm package was such a huge success that we have expanded it...

Veteran New York trainer Jimmy Jerkens, 64, whose stable has been slumping in recent years, has agreed to train in Saudi Arabia for Prince Faisal bin Khalid Al Saud. Jerkens said he will likely start his new job in Saudi Arabia in mid-May. The Daily Racing Form's David Grening was first with the story. Jerkens, the son of Hall of Famer Allen Jerkens, has been around the New York tracks for nearly 50 years. After working for his father as an assistant, he went out on his own in 1997....

Fasig-Tipton will remain the title sponsor for the Fillies Turf Triple for another two years. The New York Racing Association and the Fasig-Tipson Company announced the renewal Thursday for the series of turf stakes for 3-year-old fillies. For the 2023-24 seasons, Fasig-Tipton will serve as the named sponsor of the GI Fasig-Tipton Belmont Oaks Invitational July 8 at Belmont Park; the GIII Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Oaks Invitational Aug. 4 at Saratoga Race Course; and the GIII Fasig-Tipton Jockey Club Oaks Invitational to be held in 2023 during the Belmont at the...

To commemorate the 50th anniversary of Secretariat's historic 1973 Triple Crown sweep, the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame will present traveling and onsite exhibitions honoring the accomplishments and enduring legacy of the famed Meadow Stable colt from May through October. The exhibitions are underwritten by Churchill Downs, Inc., the Maryland Jockey Club, the New York Racing Association, the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, the Virginia Equine Alliance, Dean Dorton Equine, and Godolphin. A Tremendous Machine: Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Secretariat's Triple Crown will journey the same path...

The Oklahoma Training Track at historic Saratoga Race Course will open for the 2023 season on Monday, Apr. 17, the New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) announced Wednesday. The Oklahoma barn area will open to licensed trainers and staff beginning Saturday, Apr. 15. Prior to the start of the 2023 summer meet, the Whitney Viewing Stand, which overlooks the Oklahoma track, will be open to the public free of charge on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays beginning Friday, Apr. 21 from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. Highlighted by the GI Travers...

In most respects, the years have passed very lightly over Don Robinson. He remains vigorous and full of verve. But the one thing he really hasn't clung onto is the hair he wore as a teenager in the 1970s, when shaking the Bluegrass from his feet and embracing an alternative lifestyle in Northern California. "Oh man, the hair," he says. "Depending who you talk to, it just gets longer every time. It really wasn't that long. Probably over my collar. But they love to tell the story that it was...

The stakes schedule for the 2023 summer meet at historic Saratoga Race Course will include 71 stakes worth $20.8 million in total purses, the New York Racing Association announced Tuesday. Highlighted by the 154th renewal of the $1.25-million GI Travers Aug. 26 and the $1-million GI Whitney Aug. 5, the 40-day summer meet will open Thursday, July 13 and continue through Monday, Sept. 4. Whitney Day provides a trio of Grade I events, including the GI Test S. and the GI Saratoga Derby Invitational. The Travers Festival offers nine stakes...

After compiling Peter Brant's mating plans two years in a row, it's pretty clear that there may be no other owner/breeder who spends more time on this. And why not? With one of the deepest, most impressive broodmare bands in the business, mating his mares is both a big responsibility and a labor of love. He shared his system with us. "I go by three or four major things," said Brant. "The mare's race record in terms of distance, speed, turn of foot, whether they don't have much of a...