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Owner To Appeal Great White Way Stakes DQ

Following the controversial disqualification of Brick Ambush (Laoban), who crossed the wire second in Saturday's $500,000 Great White Way division of the New York Stallion Series at Aqueduct, owner Dean Reeves said he will appeal the decision of the stewards.

In a roughly run race, there was an incident at the quarter-pole where Big Torpedo (Big Brown) and Solo's Fury (Solomini) both checked sharply. Big Torpedo finished fourth and Solo's Fury was last of 12. A strong case can be made that Antonio of Venice (Laoban), the race winner with Manny Franco aboard, came off the rail and started a chain reaction that caused the other two horses to steady. When the incident took place, Brick Ambush sat five wide and outside of the horses who were bothered. He never came in contact with another horse, changed paths or did anything else that would seem to warrant a disqualification.

Another possibility is that the stewards mistook Brick Ambush for the 11 horse, Solo's Fury, who does appear to come over and bother horses at the quarter pole, while Brick Ambush appears to be clear of the trouble at that point. Both jockeys were wearing white and green silks with green caps and were next to one another.

Second-place money in the Great White Way is $100,000. Brick Ambush was placed last.

“We are going to appeal it because I'm not really sure what happened,” Reeves said. “We were never involved in the conversation. It's been amazing, the number of people who have reached out or are making comments, people saying that's the worst thing they've ever seen in 40 years of watching races. I feel like I got robbed, like I got mugged. We have to appeal this. I want to see how they came to their conclusion that we had anything to do with it. I watched the slow motion and had it stop and start. I have some questions for them.”

Reeves said he did not even realize that his horse had been taken down until getting a call from his trainer, Danny Gargan. He then called the stewards, asking for an explanation

“I called to talk to the stewards,” he said. “I wanted to ask them why they took my horse down. I called three times. They hung up on me the first two times. The third time they said call us tomorrow morning. Needless to say, I was pretty upset.”

The Daily Racing Form's David Grening asked New York Gaming Commission steward Braulio Baeza Jr. to comment on the reason for the disqualification and was told “the outside horse [Brick Ambush] caused the pressure.” Grening wrote that the stewards declined to comment further.

According to reporting in the Daily Racing Form, a second owner has filed an appeal objecting to the stewards' decisions. Thomas Albrecht, the managing partner of the group that owns Big Torpedo, has filed an appeal of the stewards decision not to disqualify Antonio of Venice from first place.

A stewards' inquiry was posted shortly after the horses crossed the wire. Javier Castellano, who rode Big Torpedo told reporters that he claimed foul, but the stewards said that foul claim was never relayed to them. It took the stewards about 10 minutes to review the inquiry, but even after they reached their decision there was more cause for confusion. For about a minute after the inquiry sign was removed, the order of finish still read 1-12-3-7, which was the order the horses crossed the finish line. The numbers were then changed to 1-3-7-6 and the race was declared official.

The NYRA website features a “Stewards' Decision” page in which the stewards provide an explanation of what happened and the reason for their decision following an inquiry or an objection. For the Great White Way, here is what they wrote: “Steward's inquiry. At the 1/4 pole #12 Brick Ambush (Junior Alvarado) came in, causing a chain reaction. The #11 Solo's Fury (Jose Lezcano) pushes down into the #7 The Big Torpedo (Javier Castellano). After reviewing the video and speaking with the riders, the stewards disqualified the #12 Brick Ambush for interference and place him behind the #11 Solo's Fury. Official order of finish: 1-3-7-6.”

On Sunday evening, Junior Alvarado, the rider of Brick Ambush, was given a three-day suspension by the stewards.

The disqualification caused a firestorm on X, with the vast majority questioning the stewards call, which seemed so obviously wrong.

Among those who took to X was Mike Repole, who wrote, “yesterday's ninth race was one of the worst stewards' calls I have ever seen. This is a public video, evidence of the (New York) stewards' incompetence. This hurts gamblers, fans, and the integrity of the sport. The owners, trainers, jockeys, track employees, etc., have to deal with the incompetence of the (New York) stewards, that is not seen in public.”

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What Was Your Favorite Moment Of 2023: Pat Cummings

As 2023 draws to a close, the TDN is asking industry members to name their favorite moment of the year. Send yours to suefinley@thetdn.com

“The best moment from 2023 was the confirmation that the state of New York would be loaning NYRA nearly half a billion dollars to build a modern Belmont Park. I'd rate this occurrence as possibly the most positive development in the sport since the founding of the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance. The seeds of this were planted in the years before VLT revenue started flowing in New York and it was decided NYRA wanted a slice of that revenue to go to a capital expenditure fund instead of just diverting it all to purses. That foresight was so very necessary. The future of the sport in New York is bright and that's monumentally important for every other stakeholder in the sport.”
-Pat Cummings, National Thoroughbred Alliance

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Borisenok, Thompson Named to NY Race Track Chaplaincy Board

Michelle Cuozzo Borisenok, a longtime Thoroughbred owner, entrepreneur and philanthropist in the Capital region, and Najja Thompson, the executive director of the New York Thoroughbred Breeders, Inc., have been named to the Board of Directors of the New York Race Track Chaplaincy, the organization said in a release Friday morning.

“Michelle and Najja both have a deep appreciation for the mission of the New York Race Track Chaplaincy and they are widely admired throughout the Thoroughbred industry,” said Ramón Dominguez, the President of the NYRTC. “We are honored to have them as board members and we look forward to working with them.”

Borisenok has supported women's leadership throughout her career and operates Brown Road Racing, a boutique Thoroughbred racing organization which aims to empower women, foster a sense of camaraderie and give back to the community.

Thompson joined the Chaplaincy in 2020 and as the head of the New York Thoroughbred Breeders, he works to enhance the status of New York-breds and promote the economic impact that breeders and racing can have on the state.

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Week in Review: Belmont Stakes Shift To Saratoga Ignites Healthy Debate, But Racing World Won’t Tilt Off Its Axis

Last week's announcement that the 2024 GI Belmont S. will be migrating north to Saratoga Race Course for 2024 because of the $455-million extensive renovation of Belmont Park made official a move that the New York Racing Association (NYRA) has been openly discussing for months.

But since the press release from the New York governor's office came out during a slow time of the year for racing news, it rekindled speculation about the ramifications of tinkering with the historical significance of the third jewel of the Triple Crown.

The debate is healthy. It means fans care.

But the racing world isn't about to tilt off its axis because of changes that will probably end up making the best of an unavoidable, temporary transition.

Cutting back the 1 1/2 miles “Test of a Champion” distance of the Belmont S. to 1 1/4 miles generated the most outcry.

The feasibility of moving the four-day (Thursday-Sunday) Belmont S. festival upstate for one long weekend June 6-9 instead of just running it at Aqueduct Racetrack was a distant second in the discussion.

And although it was not specifically addressed in the official release, the expectation is that the Belmont Park construction will extend through 2025, meaning that the site and distance switch figures to be in play for at least the next two runnings of the Belmont S.

The purse of the race will also be getting a boost, from $1.5 million to $2 million.

The last time Belmont Park was closed for a major facelift, from 1963-1967, the Belmont S. got shifted to Aqueduct, which accommodated the 1 1/2 miles distance without incident by starting the race on the far turn at the three-eighths pole.

Since both Saratoga and Aqueduct feature nine-furlong main-track ovals, that would be the start point for any 1 1/2 miles dirt race at either venue (without resorting to an alternate finish line).

It would be an awkward (but not impossible) configuration to attempt, so NYRA has opted for the two-furlong cutback.

To some racing enthusiasts, that's absolute heresy that will sully the Triple Crown with asterisks if a horse manages to sweep the series at the truncated Belmont S. distance.

Others are simply shrugging their shoulders and accepting the short-term trim as a historical aberration, noting that over the past century and a half, there have been a number of tweaks to the distances, order, time spacing, and venues of all the Triple Crown races.

With that in mind, maybe the best outcomes to root for in 2024-25 are close, competitive editions of the Belmont S. with no one horse sweeping the series.

One longer-term concern about the distance switch is that horse owners and trainers might end up liking the 10-furlong Belmont S. so much that they'll push for the change to become permanent under the argument that it better suits modern-day Thoroughbreds who are bred for speed rather than stamina.

If the 1 1/4-mile runnings of the race end up luring large fields, this theory could have some legs.

But it would be difficult to imagine NYRA officials wanting to unveil the brand-new Belmont Park in 2026 by starting its showcase race in another awkward spot, this time on the first turn. That's where the few main-track races carded at 10 furlongs must begin over Belmont's 1 1/2-mile circumference.

As to the wisdom of choosing Saratoga over Aqueduct, the question comes down to location, location, location.

And context.

Yes, the logistics of running the Belmont S. at Aqueduct would be far easier than moving the meet (and a small army of backstretch workers and track employees) upstate for just four days. Remember, after the Belmont-at-Saratoga mini-meet, racing is to return downstate to Aqueduct for another month before then coming back to the Spa July 11 for the traditional 40-day summer season.

You could maybe make a minor case for wanting to give utilitarian Aqueduct a fitting send-off salute by allowing it to host a Triple Crown race for two years before the property likely gets sold and repurposed (all of NYRA's downstate racing and training is envisioned to get consolidated at Belmont Park after the construction project is complete). If it worked in the 1960s, why not the 2020s?

Recall that at the time of the last Belmont Park rehab 60 years ago, Aqueduct had just undergone its own three-year renovation (completed in 1959) and was being hailed as “the world's most modern and luxurious horse plant,” as per the Associated Press.

And in 1963, Saratoga was still a relatively sleepy hamlet that hosted seasonal racing for only a few weeks each summer. So moving the Belmont S. there would have been considered an unlikely (even absurd) proposition the last time this type of venue switch had to be considered.

Now fast-forward six decades: Aqueduct has long since been retrofitted from a primary racing plant to a full-blown racino with not enough seating or trackside amenities to accommodate the 50,000 attendance cap for the Belmont S.

And Saratoga? Its stature and infrastructure have both blossomed in the other direction, with numerous “premium seating” renovations added over the past few years to more readily accommodate the hospitality needs of a special event like a four-day weekend.

Saratoga has undergone numerous renovations and new builds | Sarah Andrew

Plus, simply from a cachet standpoint, the racing-centric, tourism-ready, boutique atmosphere in upstate Saratoga provides an exclamation point that workmanlike Aqueduct in Queens could never match.

Yet the move is not completely without drawbacks. There will be legitimate gripes about another major racing event being pushed farther out of the grasp of the everyday horseplayer who wants to see important stakes in person.

Remember how-for decades-racing used to promote itself as the only sport in America where admissions were kept at the same price point for blockbuster events as they were for regular, run-of-the-mill, weekday afternoons?

That marketing mantra slid of the grid many years ago. If you remember that type of sloganeering at all, you probably also recall how pay telephones were once strictly verboten at tracks (to keep race results out of the hands of bookies), or how the racing industry used to boast that it was the highest-attended spectator sport in the nation.

Mike MacAdam, writing for the Daily Gazette in upstate New York, pointed out in a Friday article how tickets for the Belmont-at-Saratoga meet, which are expected to go on sale in mid-February, will be largely limited to four-day packaged seating options, with early-access first dibs going to box-seat holders from both Belmont and Saratoga, plus Saratoga reserved season ticket holders and past Belmont S. package purchasers.

“So, for the most part, you won't be able to get single-day seating,” MacAdam wrote.

Noting that pricing and policies have yet to be announced publicly, MacAdam also speculated that Saratoga's fan-friendly carry-in cooler rule could change for the Belmont S. weekend.

“NYRA hasn't announced yet whether fans will be allowed to bring in their own food and beverages,” MacAdam wrote in the Daily Gazette. “It's worth noting that they don't allow outside alcohol on Belmont Day.”

Hotel rooms for the June 6-9 period are going, going, gone, according to news reports by several different upstate New York media outlets.

The Daily Gazette reported in a separate story by Shenandoah Briere last Wednesday that Saratoga hotel rooms at Embassy Suites that had been advertised at $285 to $335 a night prior to the governor's announcement about the Belmont S. quickly got bloated by supply and demand to up over $1,100 per night.

On Sunday, a TDN check of lodging availability at the higher-end Adelphi Hotel yielded Friday and Saturday rates listed for as high as $4,022 per night, with a three-night minimum stay in effect.

There is no word yet on how much a spot on someone's spare couch in one of the outlying towns in the Saratoga region might cost you, but we'll keep you posted over the long winter between now and the sure-to-be-unique, first-ever Belmont-at-Spa fest.

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