Tag: belmont

NYRA Might Hold Belmont S. Twice In Saratoga

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The next two runnings of the GI Belmont S. could be held at Saratoga Race Course, New York Racing Association President and CEO David O'Rourke said Sunday.

NYRA would make the temporary switch of the oldest race in the Triple Crown series to America's oldest track during a massive re-construction undertaking at Belmont Park. In mid-June, Patrick McKenna, NYRA's vice-president for communications, said that the 2025 Belmont S. might be held at Saratoga Race Course. While noting that a final decision has not been finalized, O'Rourke said Saratoga could host the race next June and again in 2025.

“With Belmont, you're looking at just under a three-year project, including demolition,” he said. “Our preferred course of action is to get moving on the abatement and the demolition early this winter. If we are successful, we will not be back to Belmont until the Belmont S. of '26.

“I won't have a definitive answer on that until a month from now, maybe a month and a half. In terms of our preferred path forward, that would be it.”

Saratoga Race Course would be a suitable host site because it can accommodate large crowds. NYRA still operates Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens, but its once-massive grandstand is gone.

Moving the Belmont S. would be a huge economic boon for the city of Saratoga Springs and the Capital Region of upstate New York. The annual 40-day Saratoga meeting is a key economic driver and adding more days in June for the Belmont Stakes festival would be a very big deal in the marketplace.

Thoroughbred racing debuted in Saratoga in 1863 on an existing track on the north side of Union Avenue. The experiment launched by John Morrissey was so successful, that land was purchased across the street and a track was ready for the 1864 season. The first race held on the new grounds, where the current track is located, was the Travers Stakes, named after William Travers, the president of the racing association. For 3-year-olds, it is the most-important race of the season.

The annual Saratoga racing, season, now 40 days, is the highest-profile, most-popular meet in North America. NYRA officials said that total attendance for this year's meet, which conclude Monday, will again top 1 million.

Saratoga Race Course would be the fifth track in New York to host the Belmont S. It was first run in 1867 at Jerome Park Racetrack in the Bronx. The Belmont was staged at Morris Park in Westchester County from 1890 until Belmont Park was opened in 1905. The race was held at Aqueduct Racetrack between 1963 and 1967 when Belmont Park was being rebuilt.

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Why I Chose To Work With Hisa To Make It The Best It Can Be

by Dr. Sara Langsam

After having read Dr. Thomas Little's Open Letter to the Industry regarding HISA, I thought it was important to share a different voice and perspective. For the last 20 years, I have practiced as a private racetrack practitioner with one of the largest racetrack veterinary practices in the country. I agree with Dr. Little that private veterinary practitioners are a critical component of making sure horses are ready and sound for racing. However, I disagree with his views on HISA and its relationships with private practitioners.

HISA has been a big change for us all. However, I have always firmly believed that horseracing needs uniformity in its rules and regulations. It wasn't easy for veterinarians, or anyone for that matter, to have to adapt to different rules from state to state.  Having to consult websites and calling colleagues to double check local rules in a different state was onerous and complicated. It wasn't good for either horses nor horsemen and bred confusion in general. In addition, we need to accept that standards have changed, our social license to operate as a sport is more in jeopardy than ever before. We cannot escape the fact that highly visible fatalities like the ones that took place at Churchill Downs and Saratoga this year put the industry under heavy scrutiny. Therefore, we must show the public that we are always doing the best for the horse. And as practitioners, we are the experts in the room to help the industry minimize equine injuries. We need to come together and help provide solutions. HISA can be a part of that solution.

So while we may not all have been there at the conception of HISA, something like it has been coming on for years. Previous groups have tried and failed to create uniformity and our threatened industry needed some clear direction. I will wholeheartedly agree that HISA is far from perfect, but it has always been described to me by it's stewards as a living and breathing, evolving document. The safety rules are being edited as we speak. I can tell you from first-hand information that numerous private veterinarians, myself included, have been asked to go over the current rules and proposed revisions.

And while our suggestions have not all been taken, they have all been considered. All of the current governing documents, the ADMC rules included, have had public comment periods where private attending veterinarians, along with other people in our industry, have been asked to voice their opinions. If you have a constructive revision they want to hear it. As a group, we are terrible at complaining amongst ourselves but not being productive and taking those complaints and suggestions for improvement to the powers that can change them. In addition, Lisa Lazarus created HISA's Horsemen's Advisory Group almost a year ago. Three private racetrack veterinarians are currently part of the 18-member group. The rest of the group is comprised of owners, trainers and industry executives. She and other members of the HISA board have used this group as a place to discuss issues that have come up as well as rule revisions. We represent the industry and all of us have taken questions and concerns from our fellow horsemen not in the group to the Board and they have listened.

Like I said, HISA is not perfect, but it is the best chance the industry has to guarantee that horseracing is around forever. Its success needs everyone's input, and so I encourage my colleagues to come forward and share constructive suggestions so that we can move forward together instead of dividing ourselves further. I chose to work with HISA to make it the best it can be rather than continue to fight it and then head back to our individual corners where we lived before.

Dr Sara Langsam is a shareholder in TFB Equine and is based out of Belmont Park in New York. She currently is serving as the chair of American Association of Equine Practitioners' (AAEP) Racing Committee and is a member of HISA's Horsemen's Advisory Group.

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Nest Targets Personal Ensign For Next Start

Last year's champion 3-year-old filly Nest (Curlin) will make her next start in the GI Personal Ensign S. at Saratoga Aug. 25. Part-owner Mike Repole of Repole Stables announced the news via social media Friday morning. Not seen since an off-the-board finish as the favorite in last Fall's GI Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff, Nest made a triumphant return to the races with a 2 1/4-length win over MGISW Clairiere (Curlin) in last Sunday's GII Shuvee S.

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Making Waves: Salimah Sublime At Saratoga

In this series, the TDN takes a look at notable successes of European-based sires in North America. This week's column is highlighted by the victory of the stakes-winning filly Salimah in upstate New York.

 

Stakes Winner Shines At The Spa

The consistent stakes winner Salimah (Ire) (El Kabeir) added a win at Saratoga for Stephanie Seymour Brant and trainer Chad Brown on Thursday (video).

Part of the Yeomanstown Stud breeding programme, the grey was a 180,000gns Tattersalls October Book 1 graduate. She has now won four of six starts, with a score in the Winter Memories S. last autumn her best run to date. A half-sister to G2 Mill Reef S. second Fivethousandtoone (Ire) (Frankel {GB}), the 4-year-old's dam, Promised Money (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}), won at listed level in Ireland and her latest is a full-brother to that gelding. G1 Irish 2000 Guineas runner-up Fa-eq (Ire) (Indian Ridge {Ire}) is under the third dam.

Now standing at Allevamenti della Berardenga in Italy after a stint at Yeomanstown, El Kabeir has had two runners in the U.S. counting Salimah. His six stakes winners worldwide include the Group 2-winning pair of Azure Blue (Ire) and Don Chicco (GB).

 

 

 

Kodiac Colt Takes 3-Year-Old Bow In New York

Klaravich Stables' Appraise (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) made a winning 3-year-old bow in a Belmont affair on Saturday (video).

Bred by Mr. J and Mrs. L Scott, the Chad Brown trainee sold for 85,000gns as a Tattersalls December foal, and, returned to that ring as a Book 1 yearling, brought 180,000gns. Out of Irish listed winner Champagne Or Water (Ire) (Captain Rio {GB}), the GI Summer S. second has a juvenile half-sister named Lucky Silks (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}). The listed-winning third dam, Desert Drama (Ire) (Green Desert), was third in the G2 Criterium des Maisons-Laffitte, before foaling multiple Group 2 winner Endless Drama (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}), who was Classic-placed in Ireland and Group 1-placed in Australia.

Tally-Ho Stud's Kodiac has sired 36 winners from 72 runners (50%) in the U.S. and Canada. His seven stakes winners there (9.7%) are led by True Valour (Ire), the winner of the GII City of Hope Mile S., and Grade III winners Campanelle (Ire), Island Of Love (Ire) and Spirit Of Xian (Ire).

 

Cityscape Filly Trounces Foes At Belmont

Madaket Stables, LLC, Michael Dubb, and Michael Kisber's Chili Flag (Fr) (Cityscape {GB}) added a win in a Belmont contest to her resume (video) in her third U.S. start.

Bred by Finanza Locale Consulting SRL in France, the Listed Prix Saraca second was a €5,000 buy-back at the Arqana December Sale in 2019, and raced for Alain Jathiere and Gerard Augustin-Normand and trainer Maurizio Guarnieri. She made €140,000 at Arqana's 2022 Arc Sale and was transferred Stateside.

A half-sister to the stakes-placed Flers (Fr) (Dream Ahead), Chili Flag is out of Flag Day (GB) (Pivotal {GB}), whose latest foal is a yearling filly by Olympic Glory (Ire). Her second dam, G1 Cheveley Park S. heroine Blue Duster (Danzig) is a full-sister to fellow top-level winner Zieten.

Besides GII John C. Mabee S. heroine Avenue De France (Fr), Chili Flag is the second winner and third runner for Cityscape in America.

 

 

Honourable Mention:

AMO Racing USA's Kingmax (Ire) (Kingman {GB}) improved his record with a win at Monmouth Park on Friday (video). The 4-year-old featured in this June 15 column, and is trained by Jorge Delgado. The son of G2 Prix de Pomone heroine Baino Hope (Fr) (Jeremy) was third in the G3 Hampton Court S. earlier in his career.

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