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NY Gov. Hochul Includes Belmont Renovation in Budget Proposal

New York State Governor Kathy Hochul has officially announced support for a plan by the New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) to modernize the racing facilities at Belmont Park. The plan has been included as part of the Fiscal Year 2024 Executive Budget Proposal.

“Horse racing in New York State has a champion in Governor Kathy Hochul, who clearly recognizes the important role the sport plays within the New York economy,” said NYRA President and CEO David O'Rourke. “Belmont Park stands at the center of the statewide racing ecosystem, and the project to re-imagine the facility will create jobs, drive tourism to the region, and secure the future of Thoroughbred racing across the state. The time is right to build a new Belmont Park for the benefit of New York State and we look forward to working with our legislative partners to ensure the Governor's proposal is enacted.”

The proposal includes a $455-million, multi-year project with a modern grandstand which includes hospitality offerings and amenities. NYRA is also committed to updating facilities for the backstretch community, including the construction of new housing, as well as utilizing Belmont's 45-acre infield for a variety of community uses.

The project to build a new Belmont Park is expected to generate $1 billion in construction-related economic activity, create 3,700 construction jobs, sustain $155 million in new annual economic impact, and support 740 new full-time jobs.

Belmont Park was last renovated in 1968.

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NYRA’s 2023 Belmont Park Meet Features $15.57 Million Total Purses For Stakes

Fifty-four stakes races worth $15.57 million in total purses will highlight the 40-day Belmont spring/summer meet, which is scheduled to open Thursday, May 4 and continue through Sunday, July 9, the New York Racing Association announced Wednesday.

Highlighted by the 155th running of the $1.5 million GI Belmont S. presented by NYRA Bets on Saturday, June 10, the spring/summer meet will include 12 Grade I races, with nine of those contests scheduled during the three-day Belmont Stakes Racing Festival from Thursday, June 8 through Saturday, June 10. The Thursday-through-Sunday event features purses totaling $7.65 million.

The Belmont Stakes Day program June 10 will culminate with the 1 1/2-mile “Test of the Champion” and feature three Breeders' Cup “Win And You're In” qualifiers: the $1 million GI Hill 'N' Dale Metropolitan H. for 3-year-olds and up, going one mile on the dirt [GI BC Dirt Mile]; the $500,000 GI Ogden Phipps S. for older fillies and mares at 1 1/16 miles on the main track [GI BC Distaff]; and the $400,000 GI Jaipur for 3-year-olds and up sprinting six furlongs on the grass [GI Turf Sprint].

Five additional graded events are slated for Belmont Stakes Day: the $400,000 GI Woody Stephens S. presented by Mohegan Sun for sophomores sprinting seven furlongs; the $750,000 GI Manhattan S. Resorts World Casino Manhattan for older horses traveling 1 1/4 miles on the turf; the $250,000 GII True North for older horses sprinting 6 1/2 furlongs; the $250,000 GII Brooklyn S. at 1 1/2 miles for older horses; and the $200,000 GIII Poker S. for older horses going one-mile on the grass, which has been moved up one week from its traditional spot in the schedule.

For the first time, FOX will present comprehensive live coverage and analysis of the Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets. In 2022, FOX Sports secured the exclusive media rights for the Belmont Stakes and Belmont Stakes Racing Festival through 2030. As part of the eight-year agreement, FOX Sports will expand national television coverage of the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival.

While the total Belmont Stakes purse remains at $1.5 million, NYRA will increase the money awarded to the winning connections from 53.3 percent to 60 percent, which will result in a winner's share of $900,000 compared with $800,000 in 2022. NYRA will continue to award Belmont Stakes purse money through eighth place with 18 percent to 2nd, 10 percent to 3rd, five percent to 4th, three percent to 5th, two percent to 6th and one percent to 7th and 8th.

The Belmont Stakes Racing Festival begins with two stakes on Thursday, June 8: the $200,000 GII Wonder Again S. for sophomore fillies traveling nine furlongs on the turf and the $150,000 Jersey Girl S., a Listed race for sophomore fillies sprinting six furlongs on the main track. The Jersey Girl has been previously run on the Sunday after the Belmont Stakes.

Friday, June 9 will include five graded stakes highlighted by a trio of Grade I events: the $600,000 GI New York S., the $500,000 GI Just a Game S. and the $500,000 GI Acorn S., which will be lengthened to 1 1/16 miles after it was previously run at one mile. The Just a Game and Acorn have been moved to Day 2 of the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival after having been previously run on Belmont Stakes Day. In addition, the June 9 program will include the $250,000 GII Belmont Gold Cup and the $200,000 GIII Intercontinental S.

Following the conclusion of the three-day Belmont Stakes Racing Festival, the high-quality racing continues Sunday, June 11 with two 5 1/2-furlong juvenile stakes, each offering new incentives for 2023. The $150,000 Tremont S. and its female counterpart, the $150,000 Astoria, both Listed events, will each offer a shipping bonus of $1,000 for horses stabled outside of NYRA racetracks, and a $2,000 bonus [$1,000 to the owner and $1,000 to the trainer] to each starter in the race.

The $250,000 GIII Manila S., a one-mile turf test for sophomores slated for Friday, July 7, has been upgraded from Listed status for 2023, and its purse increased by $150,000. The Manila will lead into a lucrative Saturday, July 8, card featuring two Grade I turf routes for sophomores: the $750,000 GI Belmont Derby Invitational and the $500,000 GI Belmont Oaks Invitational, both at 1 1/4 miles.

The July 8 card will also include the $350,000 GII Suburban S. for older horses going 1 1/4 miles and the $175,000 GIII Victory Ride for sophomore fillies sprinting 6 1/2 furlongs.

The spring/summer meet stakes action kicks off on Friday, May 5 with the $200,000 GII Sheepshead Bay for older fillies and mares going 1 3/8 miles on the turf and the $175,000 GIII Westchester for older horses at one-mile on the main track. The Affirmed Success, which has recently opened the stakes competition at Belmont, has been moved to April 30 and will close the spring meet at Aqueduct Racetrack.

Opening Weekend at Belmont continues with three more stakes on Saturday, May 6: the $200,000 GII Ruffian S., the $200,000 GII Fort Marcy S., and the $150,000 Elusive Quality S. Sunday, May 7 offers two additional stakes with the $175,000 GIII Beaugay S. and $150,000 License Fee S.

The following weekend will see the start of Grade I action at the spring/summer meet as the $600,000 GI Man o' War S., a 1 3/8-mile turf route for older horses, headlines a loaded Saturday, May 13 card. The day will also feature the $200,000 GIII Peter Pan for sophomores traveling nine furlongs and the $175,000 GIII Runhappy S. for older horses sprinting six furlongs.

The lucrative Man o' War card is bookended by the $150,000 Gold Fever S. for sophomores sprinting six furlongs on Friday, May 12 and the $175,000 GIII Vagrancy S. for older fillies and mares at 6 1/2 furlongs on Sunday, May 14. Stakes action resumes the following weekends with the $150,000 Paradise Creek S. on Saturday, May 20 and the $175,000 GIII Soaring Softly S. on Saturday, May 27.

New York-breds will take center stage on the Big Apple Showcase Day card slated for Memorial Day on Monday, May 29. The day will offer six state-bred stakes worth $900,000, headlined by a pair of $200,000 contests in the Critical Eye H. for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up at 1 1/16 miles, and the Commentator H. for 3-year-olds and up at the same distance. The Critical Eye and Commentator were previously contested at a distance of one-mile.

Big Apple Showcase Day will include a quartet of $125,000 contests–the Kingston S. at 1 1/16 miles on turf for older horses; the Mount Vernon S. for older fillies and mares traveling one-mile on the grass; the Mike Lee S. for sophomores sprinting seven furlongs; and the Bouwerie S. for sophomore fillies at seven furlongs.

The 40-day spring/summer meet will conclude on Sunday, July 9 before racing moves to historic Saratoga Race Course for the annual summer meet beginning Thursday, July 13.

The GII Mother Goose S., which has been traditionally contested during the Belmont spring/summer meet, will be run during the Belmont at the Big A fall meet in 2023.

For the 2023 Belmont spring/summer stakes schedule, visit NYRA.com/BelmontSpringSummer.

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Purses Set Record In 2022 But Handle Drops Slightly

According to figures released Thursday by Equibase, a robust $1,309,837,841 in purse money was paid out during the year in the U.S., an increase of 10.92% and an all-time record for the sport.

Total handle on U.S. racing in 2022 was $12,108,807,335, a decrease of 0.87% when compared to 2021 numbers. The total bet in 2021 was $12,215,598,838.

“Thoroughbred racing purses and pari-mutuel handle continued to exhibit strength in 2022,” NTRA President and CEO Tom Rooney said in a statement. “Purses were up double-digits year-over year and reached an all-time high thanks in part to contributions from other gaming sources. Pari-mutuel handle was nearly equal to 2021 and the second highest since 2009. These business trends occurred during a year of unprecedented growth in legal, state regulated sports betting. The 2023 gaming landscape promises to be more competitive than ever for the sports wagering dollar. It also represents a huge opportunity to introduce pari-mutuel wagering and the sport of Thoroughbred racing to a vast new audience if we as an industry embrace the challenge.”

While wagering appears to be going through a period of relative stagnation, purses have never been better. The Jockey Club's Fact Book records purse data going back to 1988 when $676 million was paid out. Purses have nearly doubled since then and the 10.92% increase was the largest for the sport in a non-COVID year since the Jockey Club began collecting data.

Average purses paid out per day were $319,161, a 10.06% increase over 2021.

That purses are up in a year where handle fell is indicative of racing's increasing reliance on revenues from slot machines, Historical Horse Racing machines and other casino games. Kentucky, in particular, has seen huge increases in purses thanks to the popularity of the Historical Horse Racing Machines.

For reasons that remain unclear, betting fell significantly during the final quarter of the year and during December. Handle was off by 5.54% during the final quarter and by 7.52% in December.

Despite the drop, the news was not all bad. Handle broke the $12 billion mark for just the second time since 2009. After the betting numbers fell to $10.9 billion in 2020, when COVID-19 played havoc on racing schedules, handle was up 11.8% in 2021. Many have speculated that the increase was due to the sport attracting new customers while bettors were shut out from playing other sports during the pandemic.

The sport still has a long way to go before it can equal the type of handle figures that were being posted in the early 2000s. A record of $15.18 billion was wagered in 2003, the second year during a three-year stretch where handle eclipsed the $15 billion mark.

In the case of most other parameters, there was little movement between 2022 and 2021 figures. There were 33,453 races run during the year, a decline of just 0.33%. The total number of starts was 244,133, a drop of 1.31%. The average field size was 7.30, a slight drop from 2021 when the number was 7.37. The 7.30 number represented the smallest average field size since 1950 when the Jockey Club started keeping records.

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Thirty Two Years and 5,794 Starters Later, Rick Schosberg Calls it a Career

There would be no fairytale ending Thursday at Aqueduct for trainer Rick Schosberg. Silken Dollar (Central Banker), the last horse he will start before retiring from training, finished eighth in Thursday's fourth race at Aqueduct. That's OK. Schosberg, 61, learned a long time ago that the life of a horse trainer is never that easy.

“Obviously the game has changed with the emergence of unlimited stall allocations,” Schosberg said. “It's really affected the competitiveness of it. It used to be that every barn had a different outfit. Now there are trainers that take up five barns. That has really hurt the smaller trainer. It's hard to compete. I have nothing against Todd [Pletcher] or Chad [Brown]. They did nothing wrong and played by the rules. More power to them.

“There are a lot of reasons I'm doing this now and certainly the financial part of it was a factor. It's hard to work seven days a week living in New York and taking home $55,000.That just covers the property taxes around here.”

But Schosberg is not complaining on his way out the door. Nor is he about to disappear. Schosberg will remain active on several fronts and will continue to spend much of his time working on horsemen's issues and advancing the cause of Thoroughbred aftercare. He is a vice president with the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association and the president of two aftercare initiatives, Take 2 Second Career Thoroughbred Program and Take the Lead. He also sits on the board of the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance. He has been called the “conscious of the backstretch.”

“Something had to change,” he said. “We needed a system whereby the horsemen had an avenue that included a safety net for the horses. The industry has a responsibility to take care of these horses once they transition off the racetrack. Seventy-five percent of their lives comes after they are done racing. It's daunting task to be able to find facilities and organizations that are up to standard to make sure these horses are taken care of and rehabilitated for purposeful second careers. This work is very important to me.”

Schosberg will also continue to work with the Horse Racing Integrity and Safety Authority and is on that organization's horsemen's advisory committee. There's more: he will continue on as an owner and has some horses in partnership with Clear Stars Stable. He also sits on the board of Marx Realty, a Manhattan-based commercial real estate company that was started by his grandfather.

“I'm still going to be around,” he said. “It's just that I don't have to get out of bed at 3:30 in the morning any more. Trust me, that gets old fast.”

Schosberg, a Cornell graduate, worked for trainers Tom Skiffington, Sid Watters and Walter Kelley before going out on his own in 1988. He won 62 races in 1993, 63 in 2000 and will finish his career with 876 winners from 5,794 starters and earnings of $38,278,409. His best horse was Maria's Mon, the champion 2-year-old colt of 1995 and the winner of the GI Champagne S. and the GI Futurity S. He also campaigned Affirmed Success, whose career included wins in the GI Cigar Mile H., the GI Carter H. and the GI Vosburgh S. Schosberg won 25 graded races.

“I've had a wonderful career and have been lucky to have wonderful clients and owners,” he said.

With his stable including about 15 horses through much of this year, Schosberg has won 12 races in 2022. He won seven last year and six the year before. He will officially continue on as a trainer for the remainder of the calendar year, but does not have any horses entered for the rest of 2022. His horses will be dispersed, some going to trainer David Duggan and the rest to trainer David Donk.

For Schosberg, Thursday was like so many other days, thousands of them in fact. He got up early, worked, drove back and forth between Aqueduct and Belmont, ran a horse who didn't live up to her 5-1 odds and put in a 13-hour day. But now that's all done with.

“How did it feel? I don't think it has sunk in yet,” he said when asked about starting his last horse.

Come Sunday and the beginning of the new year, he can catch a couple extra hours of sleep and won't have to deal with the pressures of trying to grind out a living with a medium-sized stable. It figures to be a good day.

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