Glen Kozak | Horse Racing Free Tips

‘No Evidence’ of Issues with Tracks, According to NYRA’s O’Rourke

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY. – In the wake of two fatal breakdowns during the Travers day program Saturday, New York Racing Association officials faced the questions of if they should immediately cancel the remaining races on the card at Saratoga Race Course and whether to run on Sunday. After fact-finding sessions both days, NYRA President and CEO David O'Rourke said the courses were deemed safe for competition–the jockeys were in agreement–and racing continued as scheduled.

The catastrophic leg injuries that led to two horses being euthanized Saturday brought the total of equine deaths to 12 since the start of the unusually rainy season July 13. According to the New York State Gaming Commission's Breakdown, Death, Injury and Incident Database, four of the fatalities were related to training injuries and eight to racing. Six of the eight deaths were from incidents in races run on the turf courses. Seven were musculoskeletal injuries and one was believed to be a heart attack.

The two dirt breakdowns were horrific, taking place in the stretch, with unbeaten, high-profile 3-year-old horses well on their way to victories in seven-furlong Grade I races: Maple Leaf Mel (Cross Traffic) in the GI Test S. on Aug. 5 and New York Thunder (Nyquist) in the GI H. Allen Jerkens Memorial on Saturday.

In the minutes after the New York Thunder injury, O'Rourke said NYRA had to consider whether to immediately close on the biggest day of the Saratoga season.

“Everything is going through your mind at that point,” he said.

After consulting with his staff and a number of other people, O'Rourke elected to run the remainder of the card, including the $1.25-million GI Travers S.

“I was speaking with the Gaming Commission at the same time, the stewards at the same time, about the situation that we're in,” he said. “Obviously, there's board members here. Many of them, if not most of them, are horsemen. The decision was made to continue the card because we have no evidence that there's anything going on with these racetracks.”

There were no further injuries.

After what he described as a sleepless night, O'Rourke said that he and Glen Kozak, NYRA executive vice president and track superintendent, started talking with trainers at 6:30 a.m. Sunday and later talked with jockeys and veterinarians. At 12:45 p.m., NYRA announced that the 11-race program would be held.

John Velazquez, co-chairman of the Jockeys Guild, said the riders met with O'Rourke and expressed confidence in the conditions.

“We didn't find any issues at all,” Velazquez said. “The tracks feel safe. We didn't come up with anything that we were concerned with.”

Velzaquez acknowledged that the injuries are unsettling and said that NYRA should continue its reviews.

“We've definitely had some really horrendous breakdowns,” he said. “We are very saddened about it. There are going to be more investigations and more things we have to do and hopefully we find more answers. It will be days or weeks, whatever it is, but right now the tracks feel safe and let's continue.”

Saturday, Nobel (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}), an Irish-bred 4-year-old was injured in the gallop-out after the fifth race on turf. Two hours and 20 minutes later, New York Thunder broke bones in his left front leg in the Jerkens.

Immediately after Nobel's injury, O'Rourke said he, staff members and Dr. Scott Palmer, the Equine Medical Director for the Gaming Commission walked the turf course to look for problems. Since more than 11 inches of rain have fallen during the meet, prompting NYRA to move 59 races off the grass to the dirt, the rail has been placed far out in the middle of the course. On Saturday, the rails were down and the horses were running on very good turf. Still, Nobel was injured.

“We wanted to take a look at it,” O'Rourke said. “One easy solution was to pull everything off the turf. They were on fresh ground. I'm out there with experts and what I'm looking for is unanimous consensus. Not a majority. Everyone's consensus of opinion was that the turf course was in immaculate condition in the lanes we were in.”

When New York Thunder went down between the eighth pole and the sixteenth pole, O'Rourke said Kozak reviewed the surface.

“Glen installed this track and is quite familiar with moisture and the measurements and everything,” O'Rourke said. “It's nothing off about the track. I'm convinced, I'm confident in that moment of that, but I want more information. Sometimes you need more time. We made the decision to continue the card.”

Afterward, O'Rourke said the NYRA staff continued to look at the two turf courses and the dirt main track to help develop data that could be useful in Sunday's review

“This has been a tough meet, so this has been a topic,” he said. “It's not like all of a sudden we started taking a second look. After racing, the track guys are doing their thing. Some of them, I think, were here all night.”

Sunday's card was completed without incident, but O'Rourke said the investigation is far from complete. Noting that NYRA is a non-profit, he said continuing to race on Saturday and Sunday was not related to revenue, but to safety.

“This is about how do we get it right, when and how we're making decisions and why,” he said. “And my first job right now is to check off the tracks because that's the question I'm getting quite a bit. I came out of that, on that aspect, confident that every piece of information or resource that I think is applicable, that we have access to, is telling me the same thing.”

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Facelift in Store for Saratoga, New Synthetic Track for Belmont Park

The main takeaway from Wednesday's meeting of the New York State Franchise Oversight Board is that the Saratoga Race Course and Belmont Park of today will look quite different by the end of 2024, with the bulk of the meeting spent outlining a series of proposed and ongoing capital improvement projects, which the board approved.

Arguably the news of most significance is planned installation of a new one-mile synthetic track to the inside of Belmont Park's inner turf course. This synthetic surface–the specific material of which is currently unknown–will serve as a fourth racing surface at the facility.

At the end of last year, the New York Racing Association (NYRA) finished installation of the Tapeta Footings synthetic surface at the facility's pony track.

Glen Kozak, NYRA executive vice president of operations and capital projects, explained that the initial positive feedback to this surface from the horsemen helped cement the decision to install the second synthetic surface at Belmont Park.

“The feedback from the horsemen has been excellent,” said Kozak, who explained how even in very inclement weather, training delays have been minimized.

On one day last week, “we got an inch and a half of wet snow that finished up as sleet, and we delayed training,” said Kozak. After removing the wet snow and working the track, “in a matter of 45 minutes, we had it available for training.”

With work recently completed on a vehicular tunnel accessing the Belmont infield, this opens the door to simultaneous renovation of the inner turf course when the facility's 2023 spring-summer meet concludes in July.

Work on both the inner turf track and the new synthetic surface are expected to be completed by spring of 2024.

According to the NYRA representatives, the new synthetic track's primary race-day purpose is to provide a viable option during the harsh winter months. However, it will also be used as a substitute during the summer months when racing is taken off the turf.

Other construction projects outlined for Belmont include a new backstretch dormitory near the existing two such buildings.

“What we're proposing is a single-story dorm, double-sided,” said Kozak, who added NYRA doesn't have the final specifications for the building yet, but that it would be “consistent” with dorm number two. “We'd like to get to 100 beds,” he added. “Three occupants per room.”

The plan, said Kozak, is to ultimately decommission some of the older existing living quarters.

Separately, NYRA plans to make upgrades and refurbishments to certain barns, including the quarantine barn. The barn area fire alarm system will be modernized. Another plan, said Kozak, is to connect the entire backstretch with Wi-Fi.

These projects form part of NYRA's multi-year, $40-million renovation and modernization initiative at both Belmont and Saratoga.

Over at Saratoga, NYRA will construct a new residential building adjacent to the lowlands on the Oklahoma training track side of the facility. This follows approval of the designs from the Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation.

In addition, NYRA will continue renovations to existing housing on both the Oklahoma and main track sides of the facility.

Other projects include planned restoration of the “Resident Manager's House,” refurbishment of the grandstand and clubhouse, additional spa verandas near the existing ones, and construction of a new hospitality area near the Wilson Chute.

Interestingly, NYRA is looking to replace the temporary tent where horses are saddled with a permanent building due to the “safety issues” inherent with the current structure. “It's basically a tent built over wooden stalls,” said Kozak.

The saddling stalls are “probably the most visible spot on the track,” said Kozak. While plans are fluid, the intent is to use rubberized paver on the floor, enlarge the area at the front, and design a barrier to muffle traffic noise from behind.

“We've already engaged Saratoga Preservation to go over and get feedback from them,” Kozak said.

Earlier in the meeting, David O'Rourke, NYRA president and chief executive officer, announced plans for a single admission price at Saratoga of $10 a day, or $7 when purchased in advance.

The thinking behind the idea, O'Rourke said, was to give fans access to the entire property rather than just the clubhouse or grandstand.

In Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA)-related news, the Franchise Oversight Board remarked how NYRA already conducts an out-of-competition (OOC) program alongside the state's drug testing program.

When asked if NYRA will continue that OOC testing program when HISA goes into effect later this month, O'Rourke said that NYRA “will continue it in collaboration” with the new federal authority.

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New First-Turn Spa Seating, Belmont Infield Horse Tunnel Proposed

A first-turn seating expansion at Saratoga Race Course and the addition of a 400-foot long infield horse tunnel at Belmont Park were among the improvement projects floated by New York Racing Association (NYRA) executives on Thursday.

Three new backstretch dormitories at Saratoga are also on NYRA's to-do list, according to a preview of possible 2023 projects discussed at the Sep. 1 Franchise Oversight Board (FOB) meeting.

The FOB represents the interests of NYRA's state-owned properties, and that board still must formally approve the projects if and when NYRA submits a capital expense plan that includes them, most likely when the FOB meets again in early 2023.

The first-turn expansion at Saratoga was billed by NYRA as a natural extension of this year's build-out of the one-mile Wilson Chute near where the home stretch merges with the first turn.

The new amenities on the first turn will likely look similar to the existing Spa Verandas at the other end of the home straight, although NYRA has not formally begun designing them.

The Tailgate at the Turn drive-up picnic section that is there right now might have to go to make way for more permanent structures.

“Get rid of the tents, get rid of that restroom trailer that's over there, and work with [the Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation] on what we can build over there [to] take out the temporary facilities and build something that will work,” is how Glen Kozak, NYRA's senior vice president of operations and capital projects, described the vision.

“And I think the same concept of what works up at the Spa Verandas can work over there,” Kozak added. “We're looking at multiple things over there to come back to [the FOB] for the capital plan for 2023, but it could be something even with a second floor, similar to what we had out there for the Outback Suites, where you have a deck to be able to view the track..We could make that area really nice.”

Downstate, the Belmont project is predicated on NYRA's desire to add a synthetic racing surface, an idea that is not etched in stone but has been under discussion for the better part of the 21st Century and appears edging closer to reality.

“For 2023, we'll look at if we are going to install a synthetic track, to be able to be prepared for it,” Kozak said, noting the now-common delays for big-ticket projects that have become the norm in the construction industry.

“So even just some of the bidding that would have to take place, even without the [formal] approval of [a synthetic track], just to be able to be keyed up for the time frame,” Kozak explained.

“With bringing in product from England, with the wax and the fibers, it's such a long lead time, and some of the other components for that project as well [including] the safety rail,” Kozak said.

Belmont is already undergoing an initial phase in its multi-year redevelopment. The ongoing construction of vehicular and pedestrian tunnels to provide access underneath all three existing racing surfaces to the 45-acre Belmont infield have necessitated that the traditional 2022 Belmont fall meet be held at Aqueduct Racetrack.

“The other redevelopment is already taking place this year,” Kozak said. “But we'd also look at a horse tunnel to gain access to that synthetic track.”

The horse tunnel didn't come up back in January when the FOB greenlighted the start of NYRA's infield project. The 400-foot length of the proposed horse tunnel was not discussed during Thursday's FOB meeting, but an internet search reveals that the project's specifics have already been listed on several online construction bidding sites.

Kozak also said it's NYRA's desire to get going on a multi-year-plan to get build three new 68-room backstretch worker dorms at Saratoga, two on the Oklahoma training track side of the property and one on main track side across Union Avenue.

Kozak said the first will be located adjacent to soccer field by backstretch recreation center. The other Oklahoma-side dorm is envisioned for “over near where Nick Zito's barn is.” The main-track dorm is proposed for the portion of the property “near barn No. 8, adjacent to Greentree.”

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NTRA Racecourse Managers’ Conference Begins Mar. 6

The National Thoroughbred Racing Association's first annual Racecourse Managers' Conference and Workshop kicks off Sunday, Mar. 6 at the South Point Arena & Equestrian Center in Las Vegas. Continuing through Mar. 8, the Conference hosts racetrack management, superintendents, and equine facility managers from across the country to experience comprehensive, science-based discussions and demonstrations on maintaining safe racing, training, and event surfaces, along with an explanation of how to participate in the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) racing surface regulations and the processes for HISA implementation and reporting.

For the full agenda, click here. Program highlights include:

Dennis Moore, Racetrack Consultant and Superintendent will demonstrate the use of lasers for grade measurements and how to check grades on horse racing and arena surfaces
Glen Kozak, Senior Vice President of the New York Racing Association (NYRA), will lead a panel that discusses the HISA Surfaces Regulations and the process for implementation and reporting
Oliver Hoberg, Footing Expert for the Federation Equestre Internationale, the international governing body for equestrian sports, and Lars Roepstorff from the Swedish University of Agriculture, a veterinarian and equine surgeon and one of the world's leading experts on equine footing surfaces, will discuss the use of FEI criteria and practical implications for FEI 5* events and Olympic equestrian facilities
Mackenzie Rockefeller, Manager at Racing Surfaces Testing Laboratory, will demonstrate the new Maintenance Quality System (MQS) database developed by The Jockey Club which will allow reporting for the HISA data to be produced automatically.

For additional information contact Danae Fryman at dfryman@NTRA.com.

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