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Lope De Vega Stars On Track And In The Ring

DEAUVILLE, France—The second part of the Arqana October Yearling Sale concluded on Wednesday with consistent results across the two-day section. Again, the clearance rate was encouragingly high at 82%, with 131 horses sold for €3,179,000 at an average of €24,269 and median of €20,000.

Lope De Vega (Ire) had been represented by his fifth juvenile stakes winner of the season when Godolphin’s unbeaten Parchemin (Ire) landed the listed Prix Isonomy at Deauville and several hours later across the road at Arqana, another of the stallion’s young chestnut sons led the third day of trade.

Bred by Framont Limited and offered through Haras de Castillon, lot 465 joined a large intake of sales yearlings for Al Shaqab Racing this season after Paul Hensey and Nicolas de Watrigant went to €95,000 to secure the half-brother to the stakes-placed Mohab (GB) (Sir Percy {GB}).

“He was a lovely individual and Lope De Vega is a proven sire who does it day in and day out. He’s also out of a mare by Mr Greeley, which always adds a bit of brilliance to a pedigree,” said Hensey of the son of the unraced Princess Aurora, a half-sister to American listed winners Willard Straight (Lion Cavern) and Jesse’s Justice (Lear Fan).

Commenting on the increased activity by Al Shaqab at the yearling sales this season, Hensey, who was appointed chief operating officer in June, added, “We’ve bought almost 40 yearlings. We were keen to support our own stallions and Sheik Joaan is very conscious of the fact that times are hard for breeders.”

Al Shaqab also bought lot 452, a filly by its freshman stallion Al Wukair (Ire) and from the family of another of its former stallions, Style Vendome (Fr), from the Fairway Consignment for €60,000.

Owner Manfred Schmelzer enjoyed success over the weekend in Germany with a French-bred when his juvenile filly Noble Heidi (Fr) (Intello {Ger}) won the G3 Preis der Winterkonigin and he sent his trainer Henk Grewe in pursuit of the day’s second-top lot, a Rajsaman (Fr) colt who is closely related to that sire’s dual Classic winner Brametot (Ire). The latter is now standing in Germany at Gestut Ebbesloh after spending his first two seasons at Haras de Bouquetot.

Lot 436, offered by his breeder Haras de la Perelle, is a son of the unraced Morning Sun (Ger) (Law Society {Ire}), who is a full-sister to the dam of Brametot as well as being a half-sister to Germany’s pre-eminent stallion of the modern era, (Monsun {Ger}). This same family was represented in the one of the opening day’s top lots, as Matauri Pearl (Ire) (Hurricane Run {Ire}), the dam of the €450,000 Sea The Stars filly, is a grand-daughter of Morning Sun’s half-sister Morning Queen (Ger) (Konigsstuhl {Ger}).

Born To Sea (Ire) has undergone a semi-reinvention since being relocated from Ireland to Haras des Faunes in France, with a number of his offspring enjoying successful careers over jumps. Francois Nicolle, one of the country’s leading National Hunt trainers, has added a yearling filly to his string in the shape of lot 514, a grand-daughter of the classy sprinter Superstar Leo (Ire) (College Chapel {GB}), whose family has featured prominently in France of late via the treble G1 Prix de la Foret winner One Master (GB) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}).

Nicolas de Watrigant, who bought the filly for €70,000 on behalf of the trainer said, “Francois Nicolle has had success this year with offspring of Born to Sea, such as [listed hurdle winner] Born to Hold (Ire). He had seen her at Haras des Faunes and really wanted to buy her.”

The daughter of Speed Song (GB) (Fasliyev) was bred by the Tsui family’s Sunderland Holdings and was consigned by Haras des Faunes, where Born To Sea covered a book in excess of 150 mares this year.

Among those stallions with first yearlings this season is the Derby winner Wings Of Eagles (Fr), who spent one season at the stud where he was born and bred, Haras de Montaigu, before being switched to Coolmore’s National Hunt roster in Ireland. A member of his debut crop will be heading to the Melbourne stable of Danny O’Brien after being bought by Jeremy Brummitt for €60,000. The same trainer/agent combination has enjoyed notable success with northern hemisphere-bred Russian Camelot (Ire) (Camelot {GB}), the winner of two Group 1 races in Australia and favourite for this Saturday’s G1 Cox Plate.

Bred by Mathieu Daguzan-Garros of Haras des Granges, the Wings Of Eagles colt (lot 432) is out of the Red Ransom mare Mix-feeling (Ire) and his 2-year-old half-brother Mexico City (Fr) (No Nay Never) was recently third in the G3 Killavullan S. for Aidan O’Brien and the Coolmore team.

“He wasn’t just my pick of the day, he would have fitted in very well on day one,” said Brummitt. “He didn’t need the update to make us follow the horse strongly. It is inconceivable that a horse who was good enough to win the Derby cannot command a full book of Flat mares in his first season, particularly when you look at some of the stallions he was up against.”

Brummitt has bought two colts in partnership with O’Brien at Arqana this week, the other being a colt by Intello (Ger) (lot 47) during Monday’s opening session. The pair also bought eight yearlings at the Tattersalls October Sale.

Tina Rau was another to sign for a yearling by Wings Of Eagles, also at €60,000. The first foal of the Medicean (GB) mare Sajida (Fr) (lot 485) hails from the family of Arc winner Sagamix (Fr) and also that of Newsells Park Stud’s star broodmare Shastye (Ire), whose Galileo (Ire) yearling colt recently topped Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Sale at 3.4 million gns.

Rau said of the February-born colt, who will be trained in Chantilly by Nicolas Clement, “He was my pick of the day, an absolute star horse. Overall I have been very impressed with the yearlings by Wings Of Eagles. I didn’t necessarily have him on my list of horses to follow but they all seem to have a lot of quality to their coat and skin, and I always think that’s a good sign. This one was the easiest-moving of the Wings Of Eagles bunch and his pedigree makes easy reading too. He’s obviously going to take a little bit of time but I am very glad we got him.”

Part 3 of the October Sale gets underway from 2pm on Thursday, and the sale concludes on Friday.

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After Raising Purses, NYRA Hoping For Strong Winter Run at Aqueduct

It’s racing during the frigid winter months at a blue-collar racetrack, so Aqueduct may not always be the easiest sell. But New York Racing Association (NYRA) officials are expecting a strong five-month run once the track opens Nov. 6, counting on robust purses to convince owners and trainers to choose the Big A over options like Gulfstream and Oaklawn.

Typically, purses decrease once the fall meet at Belmont is over. Racing at Aqueduct handles less than it does at Belmont and there is a drop off in the quality. But this year, that won’t happen. Thanks to robust handle of late and the reopening of the casino at Aqueduct, NYRA was put in a position to raise purses. The higher purses went into effect Oct. 18 at Belmont, but will carry over to Aqueduct. NYRA Senior Vice President, Racing Operations Martin Panza said NYRA will dedicate about $2.5 million more to purses at Aqueduct than was the case a year earlier.

“If owners are struggling or looking to justify why they are in the game, I hope they realize that the purses are going to be pretty significant in New York this year,” Panza said. “Before we raised the purses, our claiming purses were pretty much higher than anyone else’s in the country. Now, we are going to spend an extra $2.3 to $2.5 million from Dec. 7 through the end of March. That is a lot of money and a lot of money for owners.”

While Aqueduct has always had good purses, the competition for horses in the winter has never been more fierce. With purses exploding thanks to the success of its casino, Oaklawn’s racing gets better every year. The success of Historical Horse Racing machines has helped Turfway Park improve its product. Gulfstream may not be able to compete with New York when it comes to purses, but its warm weather and abundant sunshine are powerful draws.

“With what has taken place in Arkansas and in Kentucky over the last year, year and a half, we’re going to pivot on a lot of our purses,” Panza said. “We want to be more competitive on the overnight purses or at least as competitive as those other facilities.”

Rather than raise purses across the board, Panza and his team have picked out certain categories to accentuate. The purse for a maiden special weight race has gone from $64,000 to $80,000, the pot for a $25,000 claiming race has been raised to $50,000 and a $40,000 maiden claimer will go for $43,000.

“How do you get owners to say ‘I’ve got 12 horses and instead of having all 12 at track XYZ, because of the purse levels, I’m going to send four or five to a trainer who will be running in New York in the winter?” Panza said. “That’s what we are hoping to accomplish with this.”

Field size at Aqueduct can be a problem and while that is not good for handle, Panza said it’s another reason why horsemen might want to chose New York.

“With our dirt racing, we average small fields and there is an opportunity for people to come in and take advantage of that, especially at these purse levels,” he said.

NYRA is so intent on keeping horses in New York and attracting new ones for the winter that it is about to embark on a marketing campaign to get the message out about the purses. It’s something, Panza says, that should have been done before.

“In the past, we have probably done a poor job of explaining the value of being here in the winter,” he said.

Panza is hopeful there will be a domino effect, that higher purses will lead to bigger fields which will result in a bigger handle.

“What we are doing will be an experiment to see if higher purses drive larger field size and if larger field size drives more handle,” he said. “Trainers here have asked us to take a look at this and we’re going to try it and see if it makes a difference.”

In March, there were justifiable fears that the purse levels at the NYRA tracks would eventually take a big hit. Revenues from VLT machines, which account for about 38% of the total amount of purse money, were cut off when the Aqueduct casino shut down Mar. 16 due to the coronavirus. Three days later, racing was halted in New York.

Once Belmont resumed racing in June, the handle numbers have been impressive. They were up during the spring meet at Belmont and were, essentially, even during Saratoga, even though there was almost no on-track wagering. During the first 17 days of the Belmont fall meet, handle has averaged over $10 million a day, a 27% increase over 2019 numbers.

Panza believes that the handle has been impacted by the extensive coverage NYRA now receives from the FOX Sports networks.

“A lot of what is happening here has to do with our TV strategy,” he said. “People are staying at home, working from home. Getting on FOX and having our signal out there allows us to reach a lot of people. We’re not on TVG, like we used to be, for five minutes every hour. We are on FOX and talking about our races for four, five, six hours a day and that has paid tremendous dividends. It’s no longer a case where they go to Belmont for a race when they are loading in the gate and then the race is over and they go to another track before you even know what the running order was. Because of FOX, we are able to give a much better presentation of our product.”

Panza said that if the handle numbers continue to go up, there may be another purse increase come the spring. For now, though, he is focused on Aqueduct.

“There is going to be a great opportunity for people to race for a lot of money here this winter,” he said. “The message we want to get out is that we have made a serious commitment to winter racing.”

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D/M Racing’s Carmen McShane Named Finalist for Leadership Award in Racing

Congratulations to Carmen McShane, one of three finalists in the Leadership Award in Racing category of the Thoroughbred Industry Employee Awards (TIEA), presented by Godolphin. McShane has been in the racing industry for more than three decades and currently serves as assistant trainer at D/M Racing, which is headed by her husband, Dave McShane. She has also been a jockey, exercise rider, outrider, and farm worker.

“She is the first one to the barn and the last one to leave,” said her daughter, Michelle McShane. “If there were more hours in the day, I believe she’d spend those at the barn as well.”

Click for the video feature on McShane done by TIEA.

Other finalists for the Leadership Award in Racing are Cindy Hutter of George Weaver Racing and Roy Smith of Indiana Grand Racing and Casino, who will be recognized on these pages in the coming days. The Leadership Award in Racing is presented annually to an individual who is part of a Thoroughbred racing stable in a managerial or supervisory role and displays exceptional leadership qualities.

A total of seven award categories will be honored by TIEA for 2020. Maria Cristina Silva of New York Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association (NYTHA) has already been announced as the winner of the Community Award, while the winners in the other categories will be announced live in a virtual ceremony hosted by Jill Byrne and streamed at the TDN homepage Thursday, Nov. 5, at 12:00 p.m. ET. All finalists will be spotlighted in TDN in the days leading up to the ceremony.

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Empire Classic, Empire Distaff Highlight Saturday’s Empire Showcase Day At Belmont Park

A total of 109 New York-breds are entered for a special 11-race card on Saturday at Belmont Park to celebrate the best of New York for the annual Empire Showcase Day, featuring eight stakes races worth $1.2 million, topped by the $175,000 Empire Classic and $175,000 Empire Distaff.

Veteran New York-based owner-trainer H. James Bond will saddle a pair of contenders on the lucrative card, including Evaluator in the featured 45th running of the Empire Classic, and Rinaldi in the $150,000 Mohawk.

“The New York breds are showing up all over the country and doing very, very well. A day like this, to show the rest of the world how good they are, is important,” said Bond. “It's usually full fields and it's nice to show all our hard work and give the owners and breeders their due acknowledgement for all the good things they do for us.”

R and H Stable's Evaluator will square off against multiple stakes winners Mr. Buff, Funny Guy and Sea Foam in a loaded renewal of the nine-furlong Empire Classic in Race 10.

Bred in the Empire State by EKQ Stables, the 5-year-old Overanalyze gelding captured the 2017 Sleepy Hollow in his first Empire Showcase Day appearance when conditioned by Michael Dilger. After finishing off-the-board in the 2018 Empire Classic, Evaluator was transferred to Bond's care and picked up his first win in four starts last out with a 13-length score over Empire Classic-rival Our Last Buck in a nine-furlong optional-claiming tilt over a sloppy Saratoga strip.

“He's a nice little horse. He's had a few setbacks over the last year but he's pulled through and he's doing very well training-wise,” said Bond. “There will be a few tough horses in there to run against, of course, but it's a good spot to run a mile and an eighth with him.”

Chester and Mary Broman's Mr. Buff will look to defend his title for trainer John Kimmel. A 14-time winner from 39 career starts with more than $1.1 million in the bank, Mr. Buff enjoyed a profitable winter at Aqueduct winning the Alex M. Robb against state-breds in December and the open Jazil in January before romping to a 20-length score over state-breds in the Haynesfield at one mile on the Big A main.

Following a runner-up effort to Empire Classic-rival Funny Guy in the Commentator in June at Belmont, Mr. Buff has finished off-the-board in a pair of graded events.

Gatsas Stables, R.A. Hill Stable and Swick Stable's Funny Guy was a last-out second to Complexity in the Grade 2 Vosburgh on September 26 at Belmont Park after finishing fourth in the Grade 1 Forego presented by America's Best Racing on August 29 over a sloppy main track at Saratoga.

The John Terranova trainee, a son of Big Brown bred by Hibiscus Stables, will now stretch out to nine furlongs, a distance at which the four-time New York-bred stakes winner bested Empire Classic-rival Bankit in the 2019 Albany at Saratoga.

Watervillle Lake Stable homebred Sea Foam captured the 2017 Notebook at Aqueduct, the 2018 New York Derby at Finger Lakes and the 2018 Albany at Saratoga for trainer Christophe Clement. The seven-time winning son of Medaglia d'Oro, who was seventh in last year's Empire Classic, enters on a two-race win streak.

West Point Thoroughbreds, Chester and Mary Broman, Woodford Racing, Siena Farm and Robert Masiello's Chestertown, a $2 million purchase at the March 2019 OBS Two-Year-Olds in Training Sale, matched a career-best 85 Beyer Speed Figure last out in a three-quarter length score in the Albany on September 4 at the Spa under Jose Ortiz for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen.

The Tapit grey graduated at second asking in December and wintered at Fair Grounds in Louisiana, where he was off-the-board in the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby. He entered the Albany from a distant sixth in the Grade 3 Peter Pan at Saratoga.

“He's been doing well. Everyone was very excited about him at the beginning of the year and Steve has managed him very well,” said Terry Finley of West Point Thoroughbreds. “He's a bit of a challenge and he's not a straightforward horse. That's one reason why we gave him to Steve. He has a proven track record with Tapits and they can be a challenge to train. Jose will ride him back following the win in the Albany.”

Additional Empire Classic contenders include Winston's Chance [David Donk], Our Last Buck [Michelle Nevin], and Bankit [Asmussen].

Veteran New York-based trainer Jeremiah Englehart will saddle four Empire Showcase Day stakes hopefuls, including Captain Bombastic [Hudson] and Party At Page's [Maid of the Mist], along with Makingcents and Critical Value in the co-featured Empire Distaff for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up going 1 1/16 miles over Big Sandy in Race 6.

Englehart said Empire Showcase Day is circled on his calendar as a key day each year.

“It gives us a chance to show off some of our better New York-breds. We focus on buying New York-breds year in and year out, so it's always nice when you have horses that can make these races,” said Englehart. “We've been fortunate the last few years to have won some of these races. Hopefully, these horses will represent our team well on Showcase Day.”

The stakes-winning Makingcents, a Goldencents sophomore, ran twice at the just-concluded Saratoga summer meet, including a last out win in the Fleet Indian going a two-turn nine furlongs on September 4.

“I think it will be a little easier for her at Belmont than at Saratoga,” Englehart said regarding Saturday's one-turn test. “I don't know if she likes to go that far but she likes to run and she tries. I just hope she shows up and runs her race. It seems like her best race was at Belmont even though that was a very nice race she won at Saratoga.”

Ten Strike Racing's Critical Value captured the Bouwerie in June at Belmont when sprinting in her seasonal debut ahead of an off-the-board effort in the two-turn Fleet Indian in September at Saratoga.

Last out, the Bodemeister sophomore was a game third against older fillies and mares in a one-turn mile open allowance on September 27 at Belmont.

“I thought that was probably one of her better races even though she ended up being third,” said Englehart. “The circumstances of the race and who was in there, I thought she ran a really big race. Hopefully it doesn't take too much out of her coming into this race.”

Two-time stakes winner Ratajkowski will look to repeat in the Empire Distaff. Owned by Gary Broad and trained by Graham Motion, the 6-year-old Drosselmeyer mare won the Critical Eye going one mile on June 18 at Belmont in her last appearance on the track and won last year's Empire Distaff when it was contested at one mile.

Other contenders include last-out allowance winner Singular Sensation, trained by Mark Hennig; Forever Changed [Charlton Baker]; Mrs. Orb [Michael Miceli]; and Lucky Move [Juan Carlos Guerrero].

The $150,000 Maid of the Mist kicks off the stakes action in Race 2 featuring a field of seven 2-year-old fillies going one mile over the main track.

Englehart, who saddled Critical Value to victory in last year's edition, will be represented by Gold Star Racing Stable and Emcee Stable's Party At Page's.

The Gemologist bay, bred by T/C Stable, graduated at second asking in an off-the-turf sprint at Saratoga and followed with a head score in the Lady Finger on October 5 traveling six furlongs at Finger Lakes that garnered a field-best 67 Beyer.

“She's doing well. It's a little quick back for her but we thought she wouldn't have any issue with stretching out, so we're going to give her a shot and go from there,” said Englehart. “I think a lot will depend on how the race shapes up. I think she's pretty versatile and we can ask her to do different things.”

Other contenders include impressive maiden winner Frost Me [Kimmel]; two for Hennig, including last-out Miss Grillo fourth Mashnee Girl and maiden winner Infringement; a pair for conditioner Mitchell Friedman in Chasing Cara and Cara's Dreamer; and Laobanonaprayer for owner-trainer Danny Velazquez.

The Terranova-trained Breadman was an impressive debut winner on September 26 at Belmont, and the $340,000 purchase at the 2019 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale will step up to stakes company in the $150,000 Sleepy Hollow for juveniles going one mile on the main track in Race 3.

Breadman, the son of Constitution, will face stakes-winner Hold the Salsa, the Richard Lugovich-trained victor of the Bertram F. Bongard on October 2 going seven furlongs at Belmont. The Hold Me Back colt won his debut at Belmont on July 12 before running ninth in the Grade 2 Saratoga Special on August 7.

Trainer Rudy Rodriguez entered Eagle Orb and Let's Workout, while Brooklyn Strong, third in the Bertram F. Bongard, will make his second consecutive stakes appearance for Velazquez. Boss Bear [Mike Maker] and Masked Marauder [Rob Atras] will also vie for supremacy.

Myhartblongstodady will put her three-race winning streak dating to November 2019 on the line in the $150,000 Ticonderoga for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up going 1 1/16 miles on the turf in Race 4.

Trained by Jorge Abreu, the 5-year-old Scat Daddy mare won the Yaddo last out going the Ticonderoga distance on the Saratoga turf on September 4.

Clement will send out the Yaddo runner-up Wegetsdamunnys, who was second over grass labeled “good” that day also ran third in the Dayatthespa on July 29 over firm going.

“She's been very consistent at the level,” Clement said. “She still hasn't won a stakes yet, but she's always been in the frame.”

War Canoe, trained by Brown and second in the Dayatthespa, will seek her first win in four starts of her 7-year-old campaign. Niko's Dream [Barclay Tagg]; Short Pour [Hennig] and Pecatonica [Tom Bush] completes the field.

Team Hanley's multiple stakes winner Captain Bombastic will represent Englehart in the 43rd running of the $125,000 Hudson going 6 ½ furlongs for 3-year-olds and up in Race 7.

The sophomore Forty Tales chestnut, bred in New York by Chester and Mary Broman, will look to add to a stakes ledger that includes wins this year in the Mike Lee at Belmont and the NYSSS Times Square at Saratoga along with a second-out score in the Sleepy Hollow last year Belmont. He finished sixth last out in the Grade 3 Chick Lang at Pimlico.

He posted a sharp half-mile breeze in 49.41 seconds on Big Sandy on October 16.

“The breeze was good. His exercise rider said he finished up very strong against the bridle,” said Englehart. “He's a horse that always shows up. You're confident in him when you bring him over there because he always shows up.”

A loaded Hudson field includes Arthur's Hope [Marco Salazar], Big Engine [Linda Rice], Foolish Ghost [Ray Handal], Dugout [Larry Rivelli], My Boy Tate [Michelle Nevin], T Loves a Fight [Orlando Noda], Morning Breez [Robert Klesaris] and Tribecca [Chris Englehart].

Maker will send out a pair of formidable contenders in graded-stakes winners Somelikeithotbrown and Cross Border in the $150,000 Mohawk for 3-year-olds and up going 1 1/16 miles on the inner turf course in Race 8.

Somelikeithotbrown has registered triple-digit Beyer in three of his last four starts, including a career-high 105 when second over a yielding Pimlico turf course in the Grade 2 Dinner Party on Preakness Day October 3. His last New York appearance was a victory in the Grade 2 Bernard Baruch on July 26 over firm Saratoga turf, while stablemate Cross Border also enjoyed success at the Spa, crossing the wire second in the Grade 2 Bowling Green on August 1 before being elevated to first after Sadler's Joy was disqualified for interference.

Cross Border then ran second to Channel Maker in the Grade 1 Sword Dancer on August 29 going a marathon 1 1/2 miles.

Rinaldi, owned and trained by Bond, enters off two wins, including a 2 1/2-length score in the West Point on September 4 at Saratoga, and will look to make the jump against a more accomplished field on Saturday.

“The waters are going to get deeper and deeper every time, but we'll just keep marching forward and keep our fingers crossed that he keeps getting better,” Bond said.

Seven-times stakes-winner Therapist, third in the West Point, last ran at Belmont with a victory in the First Defence on June 7. Clement said the son of Freud hasn't changed his demeanor much since he started his career 3-for-3 as a juvenile in 2017.

“He's a fun horse and always has been,” Clement said. “I'm not that aggressive with him. He's very consistent and he's been just a pleasure to be around.”

Rounding out the field is Dot Matrix, second in the West Point last out for trainer Brad Cox; Opt [Robert Ribaudo]; Sanctuary City [James Ferraro]. Yankee Division [Rudy Rodriguez] is entered for the main track only.

The $125,000 Iroquois at 6 ½-furlongs for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up, set for Race 9, has been won by owners Chester and Mary Broman the last two years with Highway Star in 2018 and Pauseforthecause in 2019.

The popular owner-breeders will be represented by homebred Spin a Yarn, a five-time winner from six starts for trainer Christopher Progno. A sophomore daughter of Forty Tales out of the Elusive Quality mare Satin Sheeks, Spin a Yarn was a game second to Iroquois-rival Officer Hutchy in the NYSSS Park Avenue when making her stakes debut on September 3 at the Spa. Last out, she toppled a state-bred allowance field at Finger Lakes by 11 lengths.

Iroquois contenders include Newly Minted [Rice], Prairie Fire [Rice], Espresso Shot [Abreu], Timely Tradition [Handal], Fair Regis [Rob Atras], Officer Hutchy [Atras], Collegeville Girl [Richard Vega], Bertranda [Orlando Noda] and My Roxy Girl [Charlton Baker].

America's Day at the Races will present daily television coverage of the Belmont fall meet on FOX Sports and MSG Networks. For the complete America's Day at the Races broadcast schedule, and additional programming information, visit https://www.nyra.com/belmont/racing/tv-schedule.

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