February, 2021 | Horse Racing Free Tips

NYRA Releases Belmont’s Spring/Summer Stakes Schedule Worth $16.95 Million

The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) today announced the stakes schedule for the 48-day Belmont Park spring/summer meet, which will feature 59 total stakes races worth $16.95 million in total purses. The spring/summer meet will open on Thursday, April 22 and continue through Sunday, July 11.

On February 10, New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced that live sports and entertainment venues will be permitted to re-open to a limited number of spectators beginning on February 23. In order for qualifying venues to re-open, those sites must gain New York State Department of Health approval and limit the number of spectators to 10 percent of seated capacity. All attendees must present a negative COVID-19 PCR test taken within 72 hours of the event and adhere to health and safety requirements, including mandatory facial coverings and social distancing.

NYRA is reviewing the newly announced guidelines to determine how they apply to Aqueduct Racetrack, where the first floor is currently the site of a New York State COVID-19 vaccination center, and to Belmont Park and Saratoga Race Course.

The Belmont spring/summer meet will offer 11 Grade 1 contests and seven races with purses of $700,000 or higher, with four of those contests coming during the three-day Belmont Stakes Racing Festival from Thursday, June 3 through Saturday, June 5. The festival will encompass 17 total stakes, including eight Grade 1s on Belmont Stakes Day, capped by the $1.5 million “Test of the Champion” for 3-year-olds in the 1 ½-mile final leg of the Triple Crown.

Tickets for the 2021 Belmont Stakes Racing Festival are not yet on sale to the public. Additional information and the timing of the general on-sale will be released in the coming weeks.

In addition to the 153rd running of the Belmont Stakes on June 5, that day's card will include three Breeders' Cup “Win and You're In” qualifiers: the one-mile Grade 1, $1 million Metropolitan for 4-year-olds and up [Dirt Mile]; the Grade 1, $500,000 Ogden Phipps for older fillies and mares going 1 1/16 miles on the main track [Distaff]; and the Grade 1, $400,000 Jaipur for 3-year-olds and up going six furlongs on turf [Turf Sprint].

The blockbuster Belmont Stakes Day card will also feature the Grade 1, $750,000 Manhattan for 4-year-olds and up going 1 ¼ miles on turf; the Grade 1, $500,000 Acorn for 3-year-old fillies going one mile; the Grade 1, $500,000 Longines Just a Game for fillies and mares 4-years-old and up at one mile on the turf; the Grade 1, $400,000 Woody Stephens in a seven-furlong sprint over Big Sandy for 3-year-olds; and the Grade 2, $400,000 Brooklyn, a 1 ½-mile test for 4-year-olds and up.

The Belmont Stakes Racing Festival opens with three stakes races on Thursday, June 3, including a pair of Grade 3 turf events worth $200,000 in the Intercontinental for older fillies and mares and the Wonder Again for 3-year-old fillies. Rounding out the June 3 card is the $150,000 Astoria, a 5 1/2-furlong main-track sprint for juvenile fillies.

On June 4, the Grade 2, $750,000 New York, a 10-furlong turf test for older fillies and mares will headline a day featuring four graded stakes. This year's renewal of the New York will offer a bonus to any previous winner of the Belmont Oaks, Saratoga Oaks or Jockey Club Oaks who wins the 2021 edition of the New York, with the winning owner to receive $315,000 while the winning trainer would earn an additional $35,000.

Also featured on the June 4 card are the Grade 2, $400,000 Belmont Gold Cup, the Grade 2, $300,000 True North; the Grade 3, $300,000 Bed o' Roses; and the $150,000 Tremont.

The Stars and Stripes Racing Festival returns on Saturday, July 10 and features a trio of graded stakes headlined by the opening legs of NYRA's Turf Triple Series. Launched in 2019, the Turf Triple returns with a pair of races earning Grade 1 status, featuring the $1 million Belmont Derby Invitational for sophomores going 1 ¼ miles and the $700,000 Belmont Oaks Invitational for 3-year-old fillies over the same distance.

Implemented by NYRA as the turf equivalent of the Triple Crown series, with all the legs contested at Belmont Park and Saratoga Race Course, the Belmont Derby Invitational will again launch the male division of the Turf Triple series that encompasses the Saratoga Derby this summer and the Jockey Club Derby during the Belmont fall meet.

The Belmont Oaks Invitational commences the female division of the Turf Triple Series, which will be followed by the Saratoga Oaks this summer and conclude with the Jockey Club Oaks during the fall.

Also featuring on the Stars and Stripes card is the Grade 3, $150,000 Victory Ride, a 6 1/2-furlong sprint for sophomore fillies.

Man o' War Day on May 8 boasts five graded stakes led by the Grade 1, $700,000 Man o' War at 1 3/8-miles on the turf for 4-year-olds and upward and bolstered by the Grade 3, $200,000 Peter Pan, the local prep for the Belmont Stakes; the Grade 3, $150,000 Beaugay, the Grade 3, $150,000 Vagrancy, and the Grade 3, $150,000 Runhappy.

Independence Day weekend from Saturday July 3 through Monday, July 5 offers six stakes races including a pair of Breeders' Cup Win and You're In qualifiers led by the Grade 2, $400,000 Suburban [Classic] at 10 furlongs for 4-year-olds and up on July 3 and the Grade 2, $250,000 John A. Nerud [Sprint], which will see 4-year-olds and up contest at seven furlongs on July 4.

The holiday weekend kicks off July 3 with the $100,000 Perfect Sting and continues on July 4 with $100,000 Manila, while the Grade 3, $250,000 Dwyer anchors a Monday, July 5 card that also offers the $150,000 Grand Couturier.

The spotlight will shine on New York-breds on Monday, May 31, as part of New York Breeders' Showcase Day. The lucrative Memorial Day card features six stakes for horses bred in the Empire State led by the $200,000 Commentator at a mile for 3-year-olds and up and the $200,000 Critical Eye at the same distance for fillies and mares, 3-years-old and upward. A quartet of $125,000 stakes will round out the day, including the Kingston, Mount Vernon, Mike Lee and Bouwerie.

Friday, April 23 will kick off the meet's stakes action with the $100,000 Affirmed Success, a six-furlong sprint for New York-breds 4-years-old and up. The graded stakes action begins on Saturday, May 1 with the Grade 2, $200,000 Sheepshead Bay, the Grade 3, $200,000 Westchester and the Grade 2, $200,000 Fort Marcy.

Closing Day on Sunday, July 11 will drop the curtain down on the meet with the $150,000 River Memories before the racing action moves to Saratoga for its 40-day meet beginning Thursday, July 15.

Follow this link for the full 2021 Belmont Park spring/summer stakes schedule.

The post NYRA Releases Belmont’s Spring/Summer Stakes Schedule Worth $16.95 Million appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Needs Supervision Could Play Upset Card In Barbara Fritchie

Encouraged by her most recent effort, trainer Jerry O'Dwyer is giving Howling Pigeon Farms, Gary Barber, Wachtel Stable and Madaket Stables' multiple stakes winner Needs Supervision another shot at graded success in Saturday's $250,000 Runhappy Barbara Fritchie (G3) at Laurel Park.

The 69th running of the Fritchie for fillies and mares 4 and older and the 45th edition of the $250,000 General George (G3) for 4-year-olds and up co-headline a Winter Sprintfest program of six stakes worth $900,000 in purses. First race post time is 12:25 p.m.

In addition to Needs Supervision, a 12-1 long shot on the morning line, Madaket's Sol Kumin also has an ownership stake in the Fritchie's 8-5 program favorite, five-time stakes winner Hello Beautiful. The two horses will break side-by-side respectively from Posts 7 and 8.

Needs Supervision, 5, ran fourth behind Majestic Reason in last year's Fritchie then was third in the Nellie Morse, held in mid-March prior to live racing being paused 2 ½ months in Maryland amid the coronavirus pandemic. Minor issues kept her from racing again for eight months.

“She's never had any major issues, just little niggly things,” O'Dwyer said. “She had a back issue that was bugging her and it was kind of causing her to break slow and she wasn't as comfortable as she could be. We seem to have a handle on that now.

“I think she's moving super now,” he added. “It's hard to find when there's something wrong with her because she's such a tough filly. She never shows any signs of distress or pain, but it's when she underperforms you know there's more there. That's when you really start going over her with a fine tooth comb to try and find something.”

Needs Supervision ran third to Fritchie contender Dontletsweetfooya, a winner of her last five races including two stakes, in the Nov. 28 Primonetta, then stretched out to 1 1/8 miles for the Allaire du Pont (G3) Dec. 26, where she tired to be fifth after setting the pace. Most recently, she closed to be second by a length behind Bella Aurora in the seven-furlong Interborough Jan. 18 at Aqueduct.

“She came out of her last race great. She ran a super race up there. I liked the way she finished up and came through horses. The winner got the clear path on the inside and she couldn't get out until the top of the lane,” O'Dwyer said. “We would have liked to get out a little bit sooner, but I was just glad to see her come back and run a race like that and finish up good.”

Needs Supervision won the seven-furlong Safely Kept in November 2019 at Laurel over next-out winners Hey Mamaluke and Victim of Love, the latter going on to win the Vagrancy (G3) and run second in the Fritchie and third in the Ballerina (G1) before going to the sidelines.

“She's won at seven furlongs, she likes the surface, and she seems to be training good and doing really well,” O'Dwyer said. “It's going to be a tough race, with lots of good fillies and mares in there. I think there's going to be lots of speed in there which should help us. We're not the quickest into stride, but I'd like to see her five or six lengths off them. That'd be nice. You're going to have Hello Beautiful and Dontletsweetfoolya, both of those are very fast fillies and I'm sure no rider will want to take their horse out of their comfort zone. So, I'm hoping it'll set up a little bit for us with something to run at.

“It's going to be a very nice race, very competitive. You just want to see the best horse win and everybody get a fair shake of the dice,” he added. “We still have a lot of faith in our filly, how she is right now. The owners have been great people to me. I'd just like to get her back in a bit of form and to get a graded-stakes win would be huge for her as a broodmare.”

The post Needs Supervision Could Play Upset Card In Barbara Fritchie appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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NYRA Releases Belmont Spring/Summer Stakes Schedule

The stakes schedule for the 48-day Belmont Park spring/summer meet will feature 59 total stakes races worth $16.95 million in purses. The spring/summer meet will begin Thursday, Apr. 22 and continue through Sunday, July 11.

On Feb. 10, New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced that live sports and entertainment venues will be permitted to re-open to a limited number of spectators beginning Feb. 23. In order for qualifying venues to re-open, those sites must gain New York State Department of Health approval and limit the number of spectators to 10% of seated capacity. All attendees must present a negative COVID-19 test taken within 72 hours of the event and adhere to health and safety requirements, including mandatory facial coverings and social distancing.

NYRA is reviewing the newly announced guidelines to determine how they apply to Aqueduct, where the first floor is currently the site of a New York State COVID-19 vaccination center, and to Belmont Park and Saratoga Race Course.

The Belmont spring/summer meet will offer 11 Grade I contests and seven races with purses of $700,000 or higher, with four of those contests coming during the three-day GI Belmont S. Racing Festival from Thursday, June 3 through Saturday, June 5. The festival will encompass 17 total stakes, including eight Grade Is on Belmont S. Day, capped by the $1.5-million “Test of the Champion” in the 1 1/2-mile final leg of the Triple Crown.

In addition to the 153rd running of the Belmont S. June 5, that day's card will include three Breeders' Cup “Win and You're In” qualifiers: the GI Metropolitan (Dirt Mile); the GI Ogden Phipps (Distaff); and the GI Jaipur (Turf Sprint).

The blockbuster Belmont S. Day card will also feature the GI Manhattan; the GI Acorn; the GI Longines Just a Game; the GI Woody Stephens; and the GII Brooklyn.

The Stars and Stripes Racing Festival returns Saturday, July 10 and features a trio of graded stakes headlined by the opening legs of NYRA's Turf Triple Series. Launched in 2019, the Turf Triple returns with a pair of races earning Grade I status, featuring the $1-million Belmont Derby Invitational and the Belmont Oaks Invitational.

Click here for the full 2021 Belmont Park spring/summer stakes schedule.

The post NYRA Releases Belmont Spring/Summer Stakes Schedule appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Another Positive For Pasture: Equine Eyes Benefit From Turnout

A recent study has found yet another reason to turnout horses as much as possible: It keeps their eyes healthy. The diversity of fungal species found in the eye is greater in horses that spend time outside.

Drs. Mary Walsh, Courtney Meason-Smith, Carolyn Arnold, Jan Suchodolski and Erin Scott used molecular-based DNA testing to identify what type of fungi were present in the eyes of 12 horses: five mares that lived outside and seven stallions that lived in stalls.

The scientists took eye swabs from each eye of the 12 horses, then extracted and sequenced the genomic DNA from the swab.

The scientists found that the equine eye is host to many fungal, bacterial and viral organisms, and that the composition and structure of fungi varied significantly between pastured and stabled horses. Though many horse owners associate these organisms with eye issues, previous studies have shown that fungi may occur naturally on the eye: between 13 and 95 percent of eye swabs performed on healthy horses were positive for fungal growth.

The team determined that horses that were exposed to a variety of plant matter, like grasses, as well as to fluctuations in temperature and humidity, are more likely to have a wider range of fungal organisms in their eyes than horses that live in stalls, where the environment is more controlled. The differences in composition, structure, and richness of fungi inhabiting the equine ocular surface is most likely affected by the housing environment in which a horse lives, they concluded.

They also noted that horses that live on pasture may be more at risk of fungal infections if their eye is injured.

Read the full study here.