New York Racing Association | Horse Racing Free Tips

Saturday’s Cross Country Pick 5 From Aqueduct, Tampa Bay Downs Pays $872.50

Saturday's Cross Country Pick 5, featuring stakes action from New York's Aqueduct Racetrack and Tampa Bay Downs in Florida, paid $872.50 for selecting all five winners for the 50-cent wager. The sequence's total pool was $123,055.

Aqueduct started the wager when Dublinornothin upset favorite Mabel Island in a seven-furlong allowance race for New York-bred fillies and mares 4-years-old and up. The Eduardo Jones trainee rallied from fourth in the stretch under jockey Andre Worrie to post a half-length victory. Dublinornothin returned $19 on a $2 win wager.

Curlin's Catch started the sequence's stakes portion with a 4 1/2-length score in the Suncoast for 3-year-old fillies going a mile and 40 yards on the Tampa Bay main track. Conditioned by Hall of Famer Mark Casse, Curlin's Catch sat off the pace before drawing away under Antonio Gallardo as the favorite. She paid $5.60.

Aqueduct hosted a Kentucky Derby prep race with the Grade 3, $250,000 Withers in Race 8, which Risk Taking won by 3 3/4 lengths. Risk Taking, trained by Chad Brown, was expertly ridden by Eric Cancel, who earned his third career graded stakes win as his charge picked up 10 qualifying points for the “Run for the Roses.” The favorite returned $5.80.

Just minutes later, Brown added another stakes win with a favorite owned by Klaravich Stables, as Counterparty Risk outkicked New York Girl by one length to win the Grade 3 Endeavour at Tampa Bay. Piloted by Hall of Famer John Velazquez, Counterparty Risk won the 1 1/16-mile turf contest for fillies and mares 4-years-old and up, paying $3.80.

Tampa Bay concluded the sequence with Candy Man Rocket winning the Grade 3 Sam F. Davis for sophomores going 1 1/16 miles on the main track in a race that, like the Withers, awarded 10-4-2-1 Derby qualifying points to the top-four finishers. Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott's Candy Man Rocket defeated Nova Rags by one length under jockey Junior Alvarado. The 3-1 selection returned $8.20.

The minimum bet for the multi-track, multi-race wager is 50 cents. Wagering on the Cross Country Pick 5 is also available on track, on ADW platforms, and at simulcast facilities across the country. Every week will feature a mandatory payout of the net pool.

The Cross Country Pick 5 will continue each Saturday throughout the year. For more information, visit NYRABets.com.

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Marshall Cassidy, 75, Former NYRA Track Announcer, Passes

The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) mourns the loss of Marshall Cassidy, who served as its track announcer from 1979 to 1990. Cassidy, who died Sunday at the age of 75, was noted for his enduring accuracy and even-keeled delivery.

Cassidy, who later served as a patrol and placing judge in New York, was a member of NYRA's elite fraternity of track announcers. Serving as backup announcer during much of the 1970s to Dave Johnson and Chic Anderson, Cassidy took over as NYRA's lead announcer after Anderson's death in 1979.

In addition to his duties on the NYRA circuit, Cassidy called races throughout the 1980s on television for CBS, ABC, NBC and ESPN. He was succeeded at NYRA by Tom Durkin in 1990.

“Marshall Cassidy was incredibly skilled at his craft and a true ambassador for thoroughbred racing in New York,” said NYRA President and CEO Dave O'Rourke. “Marshall was a friend to so many, especially in Saratoga, where he could so often be found mixing it up in the press box or talking to fans in the backyard. We mourn his loss and offer our condolences to his friends, family and colleagues past and present.”

Durkin praised Cassidy's unique delivery and accuracy which he said rivaled that of Fred Capossela, NYRA's race caller from 1934 to 1971.

“Marshall had a voice that belonged in the Hall of Fame. He had a resonant baritone and his timbre was perfect,” said Durkin, who was NYRA race caller from 1990 to 2014. “In terms of New York announcers – and this is the highest praise – he was on an even par with Fred Capossela. The most important thing for a racetrack announcer to be is accurate. And for that, Marshall was peerless.”

John Imbriale, NYRA's current race caller, also remembered Cassidy for his accuracy and his distinctive style.

“Nobody was more accurate than Marshall,” said Imbriale. “His call of Easy Goer's Belmont Stakes win will be remembered forever.”

Cassidy also mentored Imbriale in the 1980s at Aqueduct, often critiquing and analyzing his practice calls and teaching him the ropes of a profession that few ever master.

“He was very supportive and really took the time to help me,” Imbriale said of Cassidy. His help was extremely important.”

Cassidy was a member of a distinguished multi-generational family of racing officials in New York. His maternal grandfather, Marshall Whiting Cassidy, was a race starter and later a steward, who eventually became racing director for NYRA's predecessor agencies, and later the executive director of The Jockey Club. Cassidy's maternal great-grandfather, Marshall (Mars) Cassidy, was also a fixture in New York racing as a race starter, the first to use a barrier to start a race, and immortalized in coverage by Damon Runyon.

George Cassidy, Cassidy's grand-uncle, was also a race starter, serving for upwards of 50 years, mostly at NYRA tracks, before he retired in 1980.

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Former NYRA Announcer Marshall Cassidy Passes Away at 75

Marshall Cassidy, the announcer at the New York tracks from 1979 through 1990, passed away Sunday at his home in Saratoga Springs, NY. He was 75.

According to friends of Cassidy, he died in his sleep. The cause of death was not immediately known.

Cassidy began his announcing career as the backup caller to Dave Johnson and then Chic Anderson. After Anderson passed away in 1979, Cassidy was promoted to the job of head announcer. In 1990, after the Saratoga meet concluded, he was replaced by Tom Durkin.

Over his years at NYRA, his calls could also be heard on WCBS radio, ABC, NBC, CBS and ESPN.

“He was my assistant for about five years,” Johnson said. “It was a real pressure cooker job because we were also doing the TV show on WOR at the time. In all that time, there was never a cross word between us. He was such a pro and such a good man.”

After leaving the announcers job, Cassidy worked on and off for NYRA as a racing official during the Saratoga meets. On Sept. 1, 2008, he ventured back into the booth and called a race at Saratoga.

Cassidy was known for his accuracy as a caller and for how he enunciated the names of certain horses. In a staccato fashion, there was often a brief pause between syllables and Cassidy liked to draw out the names. The name of the top filly Lucky Lucky Lucky became “Luck-Keeey, Luck-Keeey, Luck-Keeey.”

Cassidy's calls were usually straightforward, but when it came to Easy Goer, he showed some provincial pride. He was not “Easy Goer” but “New York's Easy Goer.” He wound down his call of the 1989 GI Belmont S., with the following words: “It's New York's Easy Goer in front.”

“I grew up listening to Marshall's calls and was always a big fan,” said Larry Collmus, who took the NYRA announcing job after Durkin left. “He had a classic and classy delivery that was so pleasant to the ear. When I became the NYRA announcer, Marshall and I developed a friendship that I'm so glad we had. He would visit me in the booth at Saratoga and would share so many great stories. Every summer Marshall and I would have dinner with Sonny Taylor [longtime NYRA racing official] and hearing their tales of the past was something special. I will miss Marshall and am so grateful to have had him as both an idol and a friend.”

“This is very sad news,” said Fair Grounds announcer John Dooley, who was an up-and-coming backup announcer at NYRA in the late eighties. “When I worked for the New York Racing Association, he really took me under his wing when I was starting off as a race caller. He was such a kind man, a great person. He took the time to help me, a wannabee announcer. It was because of him that I was eventually able to call races in New York. I owe him a real debt of gratitude.”

Cassidy came from one of the most prominent families in New York racing. His grandfather, Marshall Whiting Cassidy, worked as a head starter, a steward and as the executive secretary of The Jockey Club. He is credited with inventing the modern starting gate. Cassidy's great-grandfather, Mars Cassidy, was also a longtime starter at the NYRA tracks, as was Cassidy's great uncle, George Cassidy.

“I'm immediately stereotyped as a bright boy with a silver spoon in his mouth,” Cassidy said in 1974. “I have to overcome this image by proving myself with hard work. As many people loved my grandfather as many hated him. I don't want people to judge me off my grandfather, but for myself.”

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With Storm On Horizon, NYRA Moves Aqueduct Sunday Card To Monday

The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) has moved the entirety of Sunday's live racing program at Aqueduct Racetrack to Monday due a winter storm slated to impact the New York metropolitan area throughout the day on Sunday.

The National Weather Service (NWS), which aligns with NYRA's independent weather services, is calling for heavy snow with accumulation of 5 to 9 inches as well as wind chill values between 20 and 25 for the downstate New York region on Sunday.

As a result, NYRA has moved Sunday's eight-race card to Monday in the interest of the safety of all participants. Monday's card is highlighted by the $100,000 Ruthless, a seven-furlong sprint for sophomore fillies. First post is 1:20 p.m. Eastern.

For additional information on the 2020-21 winter meet at Aqueduct, as well as a complete stakes schedule, visit NYRA.com.

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