belmont park | Horse Racing Free Tips

Ruffian Remains Relocated To Claiborne Farm

The remains of Hall of Famer Ruffian have been transferred from the infield at Belmont Park to Claiborne Farm in Paris, Kentucky, where the legendary filly was born and raised, officials at the New York Racing Association announced Thursday. NYRA has also relocated the plaque from Ruffian's gravesite at Belmont Park to Claiborne Farm.

Ruffian was buried Thursday at Marchmont Cemetery on the grounds of the famed nursery, the final resting place of the likes of Damascus, Danzig, Easy Goer, Unbridled, Personal Ensign, her daughter My Flag and granddaughter Storm Flag Flying, Special–the dam of Nureyev–Obeah, the dam of Go For Wand, and many more.

Ruffian's remains had been buried at the base of the flagpole near the Belmont Park finish line since 1975. NYRA is beginning the construction of a one-mile all-weather track at that location. The move to Claiborne will allow greater public access to her gravesite.

“We are honored that Ruffian will be returning home,” said Walker Hancock, President of Claiborne Farm. “She is known throughout racing as one of the greatest fillies of all time and it's only fitting that she returns to her birthplace and will lie alongside other great mares such as Personal Ensign, Inside Information and Moccasin, among others, in our Marchmont Cemetery.”

Ruffian was bred by Stuart Janney, Jr. and his wife Barbara Phipps Janney. In her two-year career, Ruffian won all of the 10 races she finished, including the Acorn, Mother Goose and CCA Oaks, then referred to as the American Triple Tiara. Ruffian was dominating from the start, winning her maiden by 15 lengths on debut while equaling the Belmont track record for 5 1/2 furlongs. She was never headed in any of her starts and set records in each of the eight stakes she won. The champion 2-year-old filly of 1974, she was also champion of her generation at three, but died in July 1975 from injuries sustained in a 10-furlong match race with Kentucky Derby winner Foolish Pleasure. She was inducted into the hall of fame in 1976.

“I'd like to thank NYRA for preserving and protecting Ruffian's gravesite at Belmont for close to 50 years,” said Stuart Janney, III, who made the decision to move the remains jointly with Claiborne and NYRA, where he is a board member. “We have been working with NYRA and Claiborne for months, and this is a wonderful outcome that will increase the public's ability to visit the site and pay tribute to Ruffian and her incredible legacy. Claiborne is one of the most beautiful and revered Thoroughbred farms in America and the home of some of the greatest horses in racing history, and the ideal place for Ruffian.”

In addition, NYRA announced that the remains of Timely Writer, winner of the 1981 Hopeful S. and Champagne S., will be transferred to Old Friends in Georgetown, Kentucky. A one-time claimer, he won the Florida Derby in 1982, but missed the Kentucky Derby due to injury. He won nine of his 15 starts for earnings in excess of $605,000.

The post Ruffian Remains Relocated To Claiborne Farm appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

NYRA Unveils Plans for Enhanced Veterinary Scrutiny

Horses entered to race at New York Racing Association tracks will be subject to enhanced veterinary scrutiny beginning Aug. 30 and those examinations will be extended to horses who will have timed workouts at Belmont Park and Saratoga Race Course later this fall.

NYRA will require private attending veterinarians to perform a physical examination and attest that a horse is sound and fit to race starting next Wednesday. This examination is a condition of entry that must be performed by the private attending veterinarian within a 72-hour window prior to entries being accepted for any given race.

Currently, every horse entered to compete at a NYRA track is required to undergo an extensive pre-race veterinary examination before the horse is permitted to race. In addition to physical inspection and observation, NYRA regulatory veterinarians perform a detailed review of each horse's medical records, past performances and workouts. This requirement will remain in place.

Later this fall, NYRA will require the private attending veterinarian to perform a physical examination and attest that the horse is sound and fit to participate in a timed workout. This examination must be performed by the private attending veterinarian within a five-day window preceding the timed workout and is a requirement that must be satisfied for a horse to participate in a timed workout at Belmont Park or Saratoga Race Course.

“Equine safety is a fundamental responsibility shared among racetrack operators, trainers, owners, and the veterinarians practicing on NYRA properties,” said Dave O'Rourke, NYRA President & CEO. “Requiring an additional examination of this nature is a commonsense approach to preventing serious injuries before they happen.”

As result of these new rules, the private veterinarians most familiar with a horse's medical history will assume heightened responsibilities that build on NYRA's existing safety protocols. To be recognized as the attending veterinarian, both the trainer and veterinarian must submit to NYRA an agreement formalizing the relationship affirming the status of the attending veterinarian. A pre-race or pre-work examination will be valid only if it is performed by the attending veterinarian or member of the attending veterinarian's practice.

The post NYRA Unveils Plans for Enhanced Veterinary Scrutiny appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

NYRA, State Want Dismissal Of ‘Meritless’ Lawsuit To Block Belmont Renovation

The New York Racing Association (NYRA) and the state of New York asked the Supreme Court of New York Aug. 18 to dismiss a lawsuit filed by two residents that is attempting to block the $455 million state loan to NYRA that will renovate Belmont Park.

In addition, both the state and NYRA want to quash a motion for preliminary injunction that the plaintiffs initiated back on June 22 to try to halt any state money for the project from flowing to NYRA.

The Belmont renovation was approved back in May when the final New York state budget for fiscal year 2024 included the funding.

Belmont was last significantly updated in 1968, and the current, long-planned refurbishment is being undertaken with an eye toward consolidating all of NYRA's racing at Belmont and Saratoga Race Course, with the state-owned Aqueduct Racetrack property to eventually be sold.

“NYRA's motion to dismiss should be granted, the Court should issue a judgment in favor of Defendants declaring that the Belmont Legislation is constitutional, and the Complaint should be dismissed in its entirety and with prejudice,” stated a memorandum of law that NYRA filed with the court Friday.

“As Plaintiffs claim fails as a matter of law and is not likely to succeed on the merits, and as the challenged appropriation to NYRA serves an important public interest and Plaintiffs cannot establish irreparable harm, or that the equities weigh in their favor, Plaintiffs' motion for a preliminary injunction should be denied,” the NYRA filing continued.

The plaintiffs, Jannette Patterson and John Di Leonardo, each identified themselves in the initial complaint as a “citizen taxpayer of the State of New York who has paid, and is paying, New York State income and sales taxes.” They have asked for a judgment declaring that the state's loan to NYRA “would be an illegal and unconstitutional expenditure, misappropriation, misapplication, or disbursement of State funds.”

The defendants are the State of New York, the New York State Assembly, the New York State Senate, Governor Kathy Hochul, state comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli, and NYRA.

NYRA's 30-page memorandum stated that the two plaintiffs “contend that the 'plain language' of the Gift and Loan Clause bars the State from appropriating any funds to NYRA.”

The Plaintiffs, however, are wrong “for at least two reasons,” NYRA argued.

“First, Plaintiffs' insistence upon a strict construction of the Gift and Loan Clause betrays an untenable, ostrich-like approach to settled law. Although one would not know it from Plaintiffs' papers, the Court of Appeals long ago ruled that the expenditure of public funds to a private entity is permissible under the Gift and Loan Clause if such expenditure serves a public purpose,” the filing continued.

“Moreover, the Court of Appeals and the Third Department have upheld financing arrangements for the construction and operation of sports venues and facilities that serve a public purpose, notwithstanding the co-existence of an incidental private benefit. Thus, the appropriation to NYRA authorized by the Belmont Legislation cannot be equated to an impermissible gift or loan under [the New York state constitution.],” the filing stated.

“Second, although at one point in their Complaint Plaintiffs correctly describe NYRA as a 'not-for-profit corporation that has the exclusive franchise to operate' Belmont Park, they otherwise refer to, and analyze, NYRA as though it is a run-of-the-mill 'private corporation' for purposes of the Gift and Loan Clause. In doing so, Plaintiffs yet again fail to reference, or even acknowledge, case law from both State and federal courts that uniformly holds that NYRA-as a State-franchisee that operates racing facilities owned by the State on public property pursuant to statute and regulation-is a 'state actor,'” the filing continued.

“In this regard, the funds received by NYRA will be used to renovate public property and facilities owned by the State. Put simply, NYRA-as a 'state actor'-is not the type of 'private corporation' that the Gift and Loan Clause was intended to cover,” the filing stated.

A separate Aug. 18 memorandum filed by the New York Attorney General's office on behalf of the state government defendants told the court that “Plaintiffs are not entitled to a preliminary injunction because they cannot make the required showing of irreparable harm. Plaintiffs urge the Court to maintain the status quo and halt the disbursement of funds so that their constitutional argument may be heard. But Plaintiffs' constitutional argument is meritless and there is no valid basis for the Court to preliminarily enjoin the Challenged Appropriation…”

The post NYRA, State Want Dismissal Of ‘Meritless’ Lawsuit To Block Belmont Renovation appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Review: Small, a One-Man Off-Broadway Show

Officially, SMALL is a one-man show, written and performed by Robert (Bobby) Montano, the story of his years-long attempt to maintain riding weight and the lengths he went to in order to do so. But it would be more appropriately described as a show with over a dozen roles, all played by Montano.

Over 85 minutes, Montano slides in and out of different characters that all of us in racing will recognize, from Bob and Sue Duncan to Robert Pineda to Mickey Preger to stereotypical assistant trainers and fellow exercise riders, jockeys, racetrack characters-even his own mother and father. He does so with ease.

For those of us who spent time around Belmont Park in the late 70s and early 80s, it's like a walk down memory lane, as he chats with Frank Pagano Jr., brushes past Angel Cordero, and dances at the Rafters, the popular Saratoga disco of the era.

On a Sunday afternoon at the 59E59 theater in midtown Manhattan, in the middle of the Saratoga meeting, I believe I am the only racetracker in the audience experiencing this, but the rest of the crowd found the performance as mesmerizing as I did, bursting into laughter or spontaneous applause at several points during the performance, and doing the only possible thing at the end of the show: giving Montano a standing ovation.

Montano, the guest on last week's TDN Writers' Room, grew up near Belmont Park, and found his `in' to the racing world when he was delivering newspapers as a 12-year-old in Elmont, Long Island. Bob Duncan, the longtime NYRA starter, was one of his customers, and his wife, Sue, who would go on to be a trainer, was galloping horses. She began taking Montano to work with her at 4:30 in the morning, and he soon found a job with Preger.

Like any 12-year-old boy well under five feet tall, Montano starts out wishing he would grow, but as soon as he sets his sights on being a jockey, he starts praying to God for the opposite. And as he continues to grow, he takes his quest to extreme measures-amphetamines, purging, and 17-mile runs with his body wrapped in Saran Wrap. For people in the industry, it's a sad tale we've heard all too often. For the rest of the audience, it must have seemed shocking as he descends into stints in the hotbox in between popping Lasix pills. One time, he attempts to lose 10 pounds in a single day in order to accept a mount. Finally, his body wears out during the preparations for his last-ever race, which Montano recreates in stunning detail.

We root for Montano all along, through his riding days and onto college and a successful career as a t.v. and film actor, and Broadway dancer and actor.

His love of racing is palpable, and you're not sure at the end if he wouldn't do it all over again, even knowing how hard it will be.

Someone in the row behind me said he was exhausted when the show was over; that's how much energy you expend pulling for Montano while you're watching.

It's not a stretch to see SMALL expanding to a production with a full cast, songs, and an orchestra.

In other words, like Montano, SMALL deserves to be something much, much bigger.

Small runs from August 12 to Sept. 2, 2023. For schedule and tickets, visit https://www.59e59.org/shows/show-detail/small/.

The post Review: Small, a One-Man Off-Broadway Show appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post