The Robert B. Lewis Stakes at Santa Anita Park has become a key Southern California prep race on the path to the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve and served as a springboard in 2012 for I’ll Have Another as he swept the Derby and Preakness Stakes.
Month: February 2023
Tickets For Belmont Stakes Racing Festival Go On Sale Feb. 9
The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) announced Thursday that tickets for the 2023 Belmont Stakes Racing Festival will go on sale to the public on Thursday, Feb. 9, at 10 a.m. Eastern via Ticketmaster.com.
Highlighted by the 155th running of the Grade 1, $1.5 million Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets – the final leg of horse racing's Triple Crown – the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival is a three-day celebration of world class racing and entertainment beginning on Thursday, June 8, and culminating on Saturday, June 10. General Admission tickets start at just $30 and will provide fans with access to the trackside apron bench seating, backyard and grandstand concourse.
An American tradition inaugurated in 1867 at Jerome Park Racetrack and moved in 1905 to its now familiar home at Belmont Park, the Belmont Stakes has provided fans with some of the most exciting moments in sports history. From Secretariat's spellbinding 31-length victory in 1973 to American Pharoah successfully ending a 37-year Triple Crown drought in 2015, the Belmont Stakes is engrained in the consciousness of sports fans around the world.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of Secretariat's Triple Crown triumph, which NYRA will commemorate throughout the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival.
NYRA will offer advance pre-sale opportunities to NYRA Bets members, returning ticket buyers and others beginning on Tuesday, Feb. 7. All groups eligible for the pre-sale will be notified directly via email.
For additional information, and details on hospitality offerings, ticket packages and pricing, visit BelmontStakes.com.
About the New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA)
The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) holds the exclusive franchise to conduct thoroughbred racing at Aqueduct Racetrack, Belmont Park and Saratoga Race Course. NYRA tracks are the cornerstone of New York State's horse racing economy, which is responsible for 19,000 jobs and more than $3 billion in annual statewide impact.
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Bruce Lunsford Joins the TDN Writers’ Room Podcast, Unveils Plans for Art Collector
A well-bred, three-time Grade I winner, Art Collector (Bernardini), the winner of last Saturday's GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational S., has a future as a sire. But that will have to wait. Not only will he race this year as 6-year-old, but owner Bruce Lunsford is hoping that Art Collector can have a full campaign in 2023, one reminiscent of a foregone era when horses raced more often. Those were among the insights Lunsford provided when appearing as this week's Green Group Guest of the Week on the TDN Writers' Room podcast. The podcast is presented each week by Keeneland.
“Bill (Mott) has been told by me that if he continues do well we will continue,” Lunsford said. “That was a pretty good race the other day in the Pegasus and it gives us a chance to take more shots.”
While Lunsford understands the economics of the sport, where, oftentimes a horse can make considerably more money breeding than racing, the owner wants to enjoy watching Art Collector run for at least one more year.
“It used to be that horse racing was never meant to be your main source of living,” Lunsford said. “It was more like owning a baseball team or a football team. You have the guy who owns Rich Strike, is having the experience of his life and is going to keep running him. We need more of that in the game. I love the excitement. Winning the Pegasus made my blood pump.”
The owner said that the next race for Art Collector has yet to be decided upon, while adding that “there's a list of 10 races that would fit him this year.”
Lunsford also addressed his decision in 2021 to turn the horse over to Mott after he had been trained by Tom Drury. For Drury, Art Collector win the GII Blue Grass S., but finished off the board in his final three races for that trainer.
“Tommy and I have an incredibly close relationship,” Lunsford said. “But after that last race at Churchill (a sixth-place finish in the Kelly's Landing S.), I went in and talked to Tommy. I knew it was a punch to the gut for him. I told him that I wanted to go to New York because there were a lot of big races there for him to run in. Tommy and I, we're probably closer now than we've ever been. We've kept a great relationship. I think I made the decision on the right terms and I took a little heat for it. But I just kept my mouth shut and let things happen. Sometimes you have to do things likes this.”
Elsewhere on the podcast, which is also sponsored by Coolmore,https://lanesend.com/ Lane's End, the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association, XBTV https://www.kentuckybred.org/and https://www.threechimneys.com/ West Point Thoroughbreds, Zoe Cadman, Randy Moss and Bill Finley discussed the latest decision handed down by the courts to the Horse Racing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) and speculated on whether or not HISA could survive the setback. This week's 3-year-old watch included a review of the GIII Southwest S., won impressively by Arabian Knight (Uncle Mo), and a discussion of Bob Baffert's domination of the 3-year-old ranks in California. In Saturday's GIII Robert B. Lewis S., Baffert trains all four horses in the field and trains 14 of the 16 horses nominated.
Click for the video version of the podcast or the audio-only version.
The post Bruce Lunsford Joins the TDN Writers’ Room Podcast, Unveils Plans for Art Collector appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.
Friday Insights: Full To Bellafina Makes Belated Debut
Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency
4th-GP, $84K, Msw, 4yo/up, 6f, 1:38 p.m.
Though making a belated debut as a 4-year-old, LAKOTA TERRITORY (Quality Road), bred in a partnership by Whisper Hill Farm, Three Chimneys, and JSM Equine, gets his chance to add to his family's legacy Friday out of the Todd Pletcher barn. Out of the Malibu Moon mare Akron Moon, the bay is a full-brother to MGISW Bellafina who brought a final bid of $4,000,000 from Coolmore's M V Magnier in foal to Tiz the Law at last fall's Fasig-Tipton Night of the Stars sale. Bellafina's first foal, a weanling filly by Uncle Mo, sold to Paramount Bloodstock for $1.35 million at the same sale. Also under Akron Moon is another full-sibling to Lakota Territory in MSW and MGSP Diamond King. She'll be represented this year by a 2-year-old Curlin colt who sold for $400,000 to Repole Stable & St. Elias Stables at the 2022 Keeneland September Sale. Recently crowned Eclipse winner Irad Ortiz, Jr. picks up the mount for owner JSM Equine LLC.
Another making a late start is A La Carte (Uncle Mo), a 5-year-old out of Canadian champion 3-year-old filly Leigh Court (Grand Slam). The Speedway Stables homebred recently turned in a bullet work for trainer Bill Mott, going five furlongs in 1:01 3/5 (1/5) Jan. 15. TJCIS PPS
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