Month: July 2023

NYRA And NMRHF Partner At Saratoga Walk Of Fame

The New York Racing Association. Inc. (NYRA) will partner at Saratoga Race Course establishing the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame as the official curator of the space currently known as the Saratoga Walk of Fame, the organization said in a release Thursday.

Through this collaboration, the Hall of Fame will present fans with a rotating display of informational panels, multi-media presentations and a variety of relevant historic artifacts culled from its extensive collections.

Located behind the grandstand just across the pedestrian path from the Miller Time Fourstardave Sports Bar, the open-air Walk of Fame is easily recognizable from oversized displays of racing memorabilia and its Saratoga-style, turret-spiked slate roof.

“We're excited to share some of the most popular items in our collection at Saratoga Race Couse, a place synonymous with racing history,” said Hall of Fame and Communications Director Brien Bouyea. “We hope it will help fans feel and appreciate the pageantry of our sport, so much of which happened right in Saratoga, and we're grateful to NYRA for the opportunity.”

Among the items to be featured this summer are informational panels about each Hall of Fame category; panels and bios in recognition of the Hall of Fame Class of 2023; video features of select Hall of Fame members and a virtual reality jockey experience.

The Hall of Fame will present rotating trophies of historical significance from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. ET each Friday of the meet.

 

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Bahrain International Trophy Upgraded To Group 2 Status And Will Be Worth $1 Million In 2023

This year's edition of the G2 Bahrain International Trophy will feature an increased purse of $1 million, the Bahrain Turf Club announced on Thursday.

The highest profile race in the kingdom, the race was promoted to Group 2 level by the Asian Pattern Committee recently. It was won in 2022 by Dubai Future (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) for trainer Saeed bin Suroor and Godolphin.

His Highness Shaikh Isa Bin Salman Bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Chairman of the Rashid Equestrian & Horseracing Club, said, “The Bahrain International Trophy is our showpiece event and its promotion to Group 2 status represents another significant step in growing the Kingdom's standing on the international racing stage.

“We are looking forward to staging the best horseracing event to date and welcoming runners from all over the world to Bahrain.”

The addition of the purse boost for the Bahrain International Trophy is part of the all-round investment programme in the country with will boast record purses for the 2023-24 season. All three Bahraini listed races, the Crown Prince's Cup, the King's Cup and the Al Methaq Mile, have all received purse hikes, as has the 10-race Bahrain Turf Series with each race worth $80,000 (£65,000).

Yusuf Buheji, CEO of the Bahrain Turf Club added, “We are delighted to announce the staging of the first $1-million race in Bahrain, along with increases in the value of all our Pattern races, the Bahrain Turf Series and our wider domestic programme.

“In addition to increases in prize money, we continue to invest in our racing and training facilities, as well as our integrity standards. Through these initiatives, as well as our partnerships and sponsorship portfolio, the aim is to further raise the standard of racing in Bahrain and welcome more international visitors.”

For more information, please visit the BTC website.

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Fozzy Stack: ‘Aspen Grove Has Nothing To Lose In Belmont Oaks’

Fozzy Stack says that Aspen Grove (Ire) is something of a forgotten horse heading into the GI Belmont Oaks Invitational S. and revealed that there were genuine excuses for her below-par effort in the Irish 1,000 Guineas when the Justify filly was found to be in season. 

Aspen Grove carried Craig Bernick's distinctive silks to victory in a Group 3 contest at the Curragh last term and, with that valuable black-type success already secured, Stack felt connections could afford to be brave in travelling her over for Saturday's Grade I assignment. 

Stack said of the filly who is co-owned by Mrs. John Magnier, “She was in season when she ran in the Irish 1,000 Guineas so there was very much a plausible excuse for that effort. There's only one Guineas, she couldn't run in it next year, so that's why we took our chance. 

“Listen, she's travelled over well and she seems to have settled in nicely. Mark Enright is over here with her and he is happy with her so we'll see what happens.”

He added, “She has good form. She ran very well on her reappearance at Leopardstown when third in a Group 3 despite being caught wide the whole way round. 

“You could run around in Group 3s at home in Ireland for forty grand or you can come over here for a lot of money. She's already a Group 3 winner so she's nothing to lose and it all to gain.”

Aspen Grove is a general 8-1 chance with most firms for the Belmont Oaks and will have the assistance of Oisin Murphy in the saddle. 

Murphy's primary reason for jetting out Stateside is to ride Andrew Balding's The Foxes (Ire) (Churchill {Ire}) in the Belmont Derby and Stack said that it would have been “silly” not to snap up a rider of his quality for Aspen Grove. 

He said, “It made a lot of sense to get Oisin to ride the filly. He's coming over to ride The Foxes for Andrew Balding anyway so it would have been silly not to use him while he's here.”

Stack has enjoyed a good start to his domestic campaign in Ireland and is operating at a 17 per cent strike-rate with 11 winners under his belt. 

Indeed, he has already tasted big-race success on American soil when Yesterdayoncemore (Ire) (No Nay Never) won a Grade II at Del Mar in 2019.

Like Yesterdayoncemore, Stack says that Aspen Grove could well continue her career in America for Bernick, who he describes as an important supporter of his famous County Tipperary stable.

Stack said, “We'll get this over with first, but we will probably run her at Saratoga or at Del Mar after this. I'm very lucky to have Craig as an owner. He's a very nice guy and has a great interest in the game. He actually bred Aspen Grove.”

On the race itself, he added, “Graham Motion's filly [Mission Of Joy (Kitten's Joy)] sets a good standard and Chad Brown has a couple of nice fillies [Aspray (Quality Road) and Prerequisite (Upstart)] in there as well. 

“There are no easy Group 1 races wherever you go but they are usually not as difficult to win on the grass in America than they are in Europe so hopefully she can go close.”

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