Belmont Stakes Racing Festival | Horse Racing Free Tips

Belmont Stakes Racing Festival Tickets Go On Sale Thursday

The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) today announced that a limited number of tickets for the 2021 Belmont Stakes Racing Festival will go on sale to the public on Thursday, May 6 starting at 10 a.m. via Ticketmaster.com.

Headlined by the 153rd running of the Grade 1, $1.5 million Belmont Stakes on Saturday, June 5, the three-day Belmont Stakes Racing Festival kicks off on Thursday, June 3 and will include 17 stakes races in total with eight Grade 1 races to be contested on Belmont Stakes Day.

NYRA will offer advance pre-sale opportunities to 2020 Belmont Stakes ticket buyers, along with NYRA Bets Elite, Preferred and Bronze members, beginning on Wednesday, May 5. Eligible groups will be notified via email.

Beginning May 19, New York State will expand capacity at outdoor sports and entertainment venues to 33 percent of capacity. With required mandatory assigned seating and social distancing in place, Belmont Park is able to host approximately 11,000 ticketed spectators.

Accordingly, available ticket inventory is currently limited to reserved seats and hospitality areas. There will be no general admission tickets made available at this time. Additional ticket inventory will be released should capacity limits increase prior to the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival.

In accordance with current New York State requirements, all ticketed spectators must submit proof of completed vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test result in order to enter Belmont Park.

For additional information on health and safety protocols in effect for the 2021 Belmont Stakes Racing Festival, please visit: https://www.belmontstakes.com/tickets/know-before-you-go.

To reduce entry time, NYRA encourages all ticketed spectators who have been vaccinated or tested in New York State to retrieve secure proof using the New York State Excelsior Pass. To retrieve an Excelsior Pass, attendees can download the free NYS Excelsior Pass Wallet app onto their smartphone, available on the App Store and the Google Play Store, and follow the on-screen prompts.

Alternatively, attendees can also retrieve and print out a Pass through the Excelsior Pass Online Portal to bring to the event. Use of Excelsior Pass is free and voluntary. Attendees also have the option to provide their Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) vaccination card or lab results from a recent test upon entry. For more information on retrieving Excelsior Pass for out-of-state visitors, approved vaccinations, or approved tests visit the Excelsior Pass FAQs.

All tickets must be purchased in advance. In order to enter Belmont Park, tickets must be presented digitally via a mobile device through Ticketmaster.com or the NYRA Account Manager. For additional details, please view NYRA's digital ticket guide.

The 2021 Belmont Stakes Racing Festival will mark the return of the Belmont Stakes to its customary spot on the racing calendar and its famed distance of 1 1/2-miles. In 2020, a readjustment to the stakes schedule due to the COVID-19 pandemic saw the “Test of the Champion” run at a one-turn, 1 1/8 miles as the opening leg of the Triple Crown series for the first time in history.

The Belmont Stakes is an American tradition inaugurated in 1867 at Jerome Park Racetrack and moved in 1905 to its familiar home at Belmont Park. The final jewel of the Triple Crown series has showcased many of history's greatest thoroughbreds over 152 editions of the American classic.

The Belmont Stakes has been won by Hall of Famers from Sir Barton, Man o' War and Native Dancer to Secretariat, Affirmed and Easy Goer. That only 13 horses in history have achieved Triple Crown glory by winning the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes attests to its mystique as one of the rarest accomplishments in all of sports.

Two of those Triple Crown triumphs have come in the last six years with American Pharoah ending a 37-year Triple Crown drought in 2015 and Justify capping a perfect 6-for-6 career with a Triple Crown-clinching effort in 2018.

For additional information and details on hospitality offerings, ticket packages and pricing, visit BelmontStakes.com. For full terms and conditions, visit https://www.belmontstakes.com/tickets.

The post Belmont Stakes Racing Festival Tickets Go On Sale Thursday appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Godolphin Quartet Arrives For Belmont Stakes Racing Festival

Four Godolphin runners trained by Charlie Appleby – Rebel's Romance, Desert Peace, Summer Romance and Althiqa – arrived at Belmont Park at 11 a.m. Sunday to prepare for starts during the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival that runs from Thursday, June 3, through Saturday, June 5, headlined by the 153rd running of the Grade 1, $1.5 million Belmont Stakes.

The geldings Rebel's Romance and Desert Peace started their journey from Dubai to Belgium, while the fillies Summer Romance and Althiqa, shipped from the U.K. to join the duo before their flight to New York. All four horses will remain in quarantine until Tuesday morning.

“They all shipped well and are very relaxed,” said traveling assistant Sophie Chretien, who will oversee training and saddling duties for the talented quartet. “We're here early so we'll have more time to get settled in and get used to Belmont.”

The festival will encompass 17 total stakes, including eight Grade 1s on Belmont Stakes Day, capped by the “Test of the Champion” for 3-year-olds in the 1 1/2-mile final leg of the Triple Crown.

Group 2 UAE Derby-winner Rebel's Romance is set to compete in the Belmont Stakes on June 5. The sophomore son of Dubawi, an Irish homebred out of the Street Cry mare Minidress, has won 4-of-5 starts.

Following a fourth in the Saudi Derby at King Abdulaziz Racecourse in February, Rebel's Romance made the grade last out with a 5 1/2-length score in the 1 3/16-mile Group 2 UAE Derby on March 27 at Meydan.

“It was a very good race and it showed he has matured a lot,” said Chretien of the UAE Derby effort. “He went to Saudi before the run at Meydan and it took him a while to mature, but he has matured a lot and he won the Derby with class. We just have to keep his mind relaxed because to do well in these big races you need a horse as cool as possible in his head.”

Chretien said the sizable gelding should appreciate the stretch out in distance.

“I think he's built that way and more distance will suit him,” said Chretien. “He's a big boy.”

Desert Peace, a 4-year-old son of Curlin, was a $1.3 million purchase at the 2018 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. Bred in Kentucky by Doug and Felicia Branham, the colt's stakes-winning dam Stoweshoe is a full-sister to Grade 1-winning millionaire mare Taris.

Desert Peace was a nose winner last out traveling one-mile on May 11 over the Meydan main track.

While no specific target is confirmed yet for Desert Peace, the Grade 2, $300,000 True North, a 6 ½-furlong sprint for 4-year-olds and up on June 4 is a possibility.

“We'll see how he trains, but he could aim for the True North. Time will tell,” said Chretien.

Summer Romance and Althiqa, who finished first and third last out in the nine-furlong Group 2 Balanchine on February 18 at Meydan respectively, are targeting the Grade 1, $500,000 Longines Just a Game, a one-mile turf event for older fillies and mares.

“The two fillies are physically very similar. They both won in Dubai and will run in the same race here in New York,” said Chretien.

Summer Romance, a 4-year-old daughter of Kingman out of the Statue of Liberty mare Serena's Storm, is a half-sister to multiple Group 1-winning millionaire Rizeena.

Bred in Ireland by Roundhill Stud, Summer Romance captured the 1 1/16-mile Group 3 Princess Elizabeth in July at Epsom. Last out, in her second start of the season, Summer Romance won the Balanchine by 2 ¼-lengths at Meydan.

Althiqa, a British homebred by Dark Angel and out of the Shamardal mare Mistrusting, won the Prix Amandine in July at Deauville in France ahead of a trio of group placings to close out her sophomore season. The grey filly launched her 4-year-old campaign in style with a score in the Group 2 Cape Verdi at Meydan ahead of her third in the Balanchine.

Appleby previously indicated a good result in the Just a Game could see Summer Romance try her luck in the Grade 1, $500,000 Diana, a nine-furlong turf test for older fillies and mares on July 17 at Saratoga.

“Summer Romance is one who can handle a little more distance going forward,” said Chretien.

For more information, visit www.BelmontStakes.com.

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NYRA Releases Belmont Spring/Summer Stakes Schedule

The stakes schedule for the 48-day Belmont Park spring/summer meet will feature 59 total stakes races worth $16.95 million in purses. The spring/summer meet will begin Thursday, Apr. 22 and continue through Sunday, July 11.

On Feb. 10, New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced that live sports and entertainment venues will be permitted to re-open to a limited number of spectators beginning Feb. 23. In order for qualifying venues to re-open, those sites must gain New York State Department of Health approval and limit the number of spectators to 10% of seated capacity. All attendees must present a negative COVID-19 test taken within 72 hours of the event and adhere to health and safety requirements, including mandatory facial coverings and social distancing.

NYRA is reviewing the newly announced guidelines to determine how they apply to Aqueduct, where the first floor is currently the site of a New York State COVID-19 vaccination center, and to Belmont Park and Saratoga Race Course.

The Belmont spring/summer meet will offer 11 Grade I contests and seven races with purses of $700,000 or higher, with four of those contests coming during the three-day GI Belmont S. Racing Festival from Thursday, June 3 through Saturday, June 5. The festival will encompass 17 total stakes, including eight Grade Is on Belmont S. Day, capped by the $1.5-million “Test of the Champion” in the 1 1/2-mile final leg of the Triple Crown.

In addition to the 153rd running of the Belmont S. June 5, that day's card will include three Breeders' Cup “Win and You're In” qualifiers: the GI Metropolitan (Dirt Mile); the GI Ogden Phipps (Distaff); and the GI Jaipur (Turf Sprint).

The blockbuster Belmont S. Day card will also feature the GI Manhattan; the GI Acorn; the GI Longines Just a Game; the GI Woody Stephens; and the GII Brooklyn.

The Stars and Stripes Racing Festival returns Saturday, July 10 and features a trio of graded stakes headlined by the opening legs of NYRA's Turf Triple Series. Launched in 2019, the Turf Triple returns with a pair of races earning Grade I status, featuring the $1-million Belmont Derby Invitational and the Belmont Oaks Invitational.

Click here for the full 2021 Belmont Park spring/summer stakes schedule.

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