Aqueduct Racetrack | Horse Racing Free Tips

Aqueduct Partners With Oaklawn, Tampa To Host Year’s First Cross Country Pick 5 This Saturday

The first Cross Country Pick 5 of 2021 will feature action from Aqueduct Racetrack, Oaklawn Park and Tampa Bay Downs on Saturday as part of the wager hosted by the New York Racing Association, Inc.

Live coverage will be available with America's Day at the Races on FOX Sports. Free Equibase past performances for the Cross Country Pick 5 sequence are now available for download at https://www.nyra.com/belmont/racing/cross-country-wagers.

The Big A will commence the action with a nine-furlong allowance tilt for 4-year-olds and up in Race 8 at 3:50 p.m. Eastern. Stakes-winner Chestertown, trained by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen, is the 8-5 morning-line favorite for the eight-horse field, looking to build on a win last out in December at Aqueduct. Chestertown won the Albany in September at Saratoga Race Course.

Oaklawn will then host the first of its three total races in the sequence when a full field of sophomores will be seeking their respective first career victories in a six-furlong maiden sprint in Race 5 at 4:06 p.m. Outasite, conditioned by Brad Cox and making his third career start, will try to show the form that made the Outwork colt a $380,000 purchase at the 2020 OBS March Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training.

Tampa Bay will get in on the action with its 10th race finale, a one-mile turf test for 3-year-old maidens, at 4:52 p.m. The Ontario-bred Thru the Vine, trained by Graham Motion for owner-breeder Sam-Son Farm, will make his first career start as part of a 10-horse field.

Oaklawn will host the concluding two races, with an 11-horse field competing in a wide open six furlong allowance sprint in Race 7 at 5:09 p.m. The Cross Country Pick 5's lone stakes will be the last leg, as 12 fillies and mares 4-years-old and up will contest the one-mile $150,000 Pippin in Race 8 at 5:47 p.m. Asmussen will send out Wicked Whisper, winner of the Grade 3 Miss Preakness on October 3 at Pimlico, while Tom Amoss trainee Figure It Out returns to stakes company after posting a New Year's Day allowance win at Fair Grounds. Regal Beauty, 3-3-1 in nine career starts for trainer Bret Calhoun, and Our Super Freak for trainer Cherie DeVaux comprise a salty field.

The minimum bet for the multi-track, multi-race wager is 50 cents. Wagering on the Cross Country Pick 5 is also available on ADW platforms and at simulcast facilities across the country. Every week will feature a mandatory payout of the net pool.

The Cross Country Pick 5 will continue each Saturday throughout the year. For more information, visit NYRABets.com.

Cross Country Pick 5 – Saturday, Jan. 23:
Leg 1 – Aqueduct, Race 8: (3:50 p.m.)
Leg 2 – Oaklawn, Race 5: (4:06 p.m.)
Leg 3 – Tampa Bay, Race 10: (4:52 p.m.)
Leg 4 – Oaklawn, Race 7: (5:13 p.m.)
Leg 5 – Oaklawn, Race 8 – $150,000 Pippin: (5:47 p.m.)

The post Aqueduct Partners With Oaklawn, Tampa To Host Year’s First Cross Country Pick 5 This Saturday appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Aqueduct Racetrack To Serve As State-Run COVID-19 Vaccination Center

The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) opened the first floor of Aqueduct Racetrack on Monday to serve as a New York state run COVID-19 vaccination distribution center.

In doing so, Aqueduct has joined NYRA's other downstate track, Belmont Park, which is home to a vaccination distribution center operated by Northwell Health that opened earlier this month.

Over seven million New Yorkers – including doctors, nurses and health care workers, people age 65 and over, first responders, teachers, public transit workers, grocery store workers and public safety workers – are currently eligible for the vaccine. To determine eligibility and schedule appointments at New York State-run vaccination sites, visit https://am-i-eligible.covid19vaccine.health.ny.gov/.

Opened Sept. 27, 1894, Aqueduct has lived several lives beyond racing, often opening its doors to serve the local community during its venerable and varied 126-year-history.

New York State Senator Joseph P. Addabbo, Jr., a lifelong resident of Ozone Park who has represented the 15th Senate District since 2008, expressed his appreciation to New York state and to NYRA for selecting Aqueduct as a new distribution site, which is operating seven days a week.

“Aqueduct Racetrack is a landmark and an institution that is universally known to the constituents that I represent,” said Addabbo. “New York state selected a perfect location for this COVID-19 vaccination site and I applaud them for moving so quickly to transform a racetrack into a vaccination center. This is not the first time the men and women of the New York Racing Association have stepped up to support the community and I also thank them for their efforts to protect and support New Yorkers throughout the pandemic.”

Last spring, New York state officials identified Aqueduct as an appropriate location for an overflow hospital to serve the residents of Queens in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Fortunately, the overflow hospital was not needed then or now.

“NYRA is pleased to be able to contribute to the mass vaccination effort underway across the state,” said NYRA President and CEO Dave O'Rourke. “New York state has led the way through this unprecedented public health crisis and we will continue to do our part to support this effort.”

Beginning in April 2020, the Big A parking lot has been the home of a drive-thru COVID-19 testing location, and it continues in that role. Information regarding COVID-19 testing can be found at https://coronavirus.health.ny.gov/covid-19-testing.

NYRA racetracks have had many previous uses in the community. In the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy in 2012, NYRA donated the use of the Aqueduct parking lot to the American Red Cross to operate a mobile feeding kitchen and relief supplies staging area.

In the days following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Belmont Park served as one of the staging areas for emergency vehicles and personnel. Less than seven weeks later, on October 27, 2001, Belmont Park was the site of the first major international sporting event post-9/11 in New York when it hosted the Breeders' Cup World Championships.

In 1944 during World War II, Aqueduct concluded a trio of War Relief Days in which all the net profits were donated to the National War Fund, American Red Cross and other causes, including three Long Island hospitals. The first two War Relief days were held at the old Jamaica Race Course and Belmont Park.

The day's featured race, the Carter Handicap, resulted in the only triple dead heat in a stakes race, with Brownie, Bossuet, and Wait A Bit hitting the finish line at the same time before more than 25,000 spectators on a rain-soaked Big A track. The event was heralded as a welcome break at a perilous, worrisome time in American history – all of four days after the D-Day landing in Normandy.

One of the track's finest moments came without a horse in sight. On October 6, 1995, Pope John Paul II said mass before 75,000, speaking from the 300-foot-wide papal platform in Aqueduct's infield, surrounded by 10 cardinals, three archbishops and 23 bishops. Though rain and wind had marred the first two days of the papal visit to New York, brilliant sunshine broke through just as the Pope began to speak. The crowd was Aqueduct's biggest ever.

The winter meet at Aqueduct Racetrack continues, without spectators, through Sunday, March 21. For additional information, and to access the current television broadcast schedule, visit NYRA.com.

The post Aqueduct Racetrack To Serve As State-Run COVID-19 Vaccination Center appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

‘Favorable Setup’ Allows Bella Aurora To Prevail In Monday’s Interborough

Country Life Farm's Bella Aurora made her first start in New York a memorable one, surging up the rail in the stretch and finishing a one-length winner as a 37-1 longshot in Monday's $100,000 Interborough for fillies and mares 4-years-old and up at Aqueduct Racetrack.

Bella Aurora, a mainstay at Laurel Park in Maryland, hit the wire first for the first time in 13 months, notching her second career stakes score.

Making her 4-year-old debut, the Michael Trombetta trainee rallied from last-of-six, as Alisio led the six-horse field through a contested opening quarter-mile in 22.78 seconds and the half in 46.50 on the fast main track.

Out of the turn, jockey Jorge Vargas, Jr. altered his initial plans to tip-out wide and instead capitalized on an open seam inside. His charge thrived with running room in front, powering down the lane to overtake a bunched-up field. Vargas, Jr. kept Bella Aurora to task as she completed the seven-furlong sprint in 1:25.63 for her first victory since the Gin Talking in December 2019 at Laurel.

“I just tried to get her relaxed and make one move,” Vargas, Jr. said. “By the turn, she was taking me places and I thought if she kept doing that well we'll be all right. When the rail opened up, she went through there and just went for it.

“At the turn, I was trying to save some ground and then work my way out,” he added. “But the hole opened up so big I just went straight in there and got the job done.”

Bella Aurora, the longest shot on the board, returned $76.50 on a $2 win wager. Bred in Virginia by Morgan's Ford Farm, the Carpe Diem filly increased her career earnings to $223,140.

“Today, she got a favorable set up,” Trombetta said. “Jorge did such a good job with her. He saved ground and was patient enough that when the opportunity along the rail became available, he had enough horse to grab it.”

Bella Aurora improved to 4-1-4 in 12 career starts.

“This was such a nice surprise,” Trombetta said. “We're going to have to figure out what the new plan looks like.”

Needs Supervision, an 8-1 choice, bested Saguaro Row by a neck to complete the high-priced exacta [$195.50] in her first start at the Big A since finishing fourth in the 2019 Grade 3 Go for Wand.

“I thought I was in a good spot, but they got me pinched there around the turn and I lost my momentum a little bit,” Needs Supervision jockey Manny Franco said. “When I came out, my filly started running.”

Portal Creek, the 4-5 favorite, Call On Mischief and Alisio completed the order of finish.

Live racing resumes Thursday at Aqueduct with an eight-race card. First post is 12:50 p.m. Eastern.

The post ‘Favorable Setup’ Allows Bella Aurora To Prevail In Monday’s Interborough appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

NYRA Handle Tops $1.8 Billion in 2020

Total handle on the 157 race days held at Aqueduct Racetrack, Belmont Park and Saratoga Race Course meets in 2020 was $1,813,935,091, the New York Racing Association announced Sunday. The average daily handle of $11,553,727 was a 19% increase over 2019.

Since New York racing resumed June 3 through the end of 2020, all-sources handle totaled $1,586,344,888, a $7,059,402 increase over the same period in 2019. Average daily handle from June 3 through the end of 2020 was $13,443,601, marking a 16% increase over the same period in 2019.

With 43 fewer race days due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, all-sources handle declined year-over-year by 14% compared to the $2,108,126,369 generated in 2019.

Average field size for the 1,507 races completed in 2020 was 7.82, a 6% increase over 2019.

The post NYRA Handle Tops $1.8 Billion in 2020 appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post