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Upcoming Belmont Meet To Offer Traditional Pick 6 Wager With 15 Percent Takeout

The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) today announced a return to the traditional Pick 6 wager, featuring a $1 bet minimum, at the upcoming 48-day Belmont Park spring/summer meet.

The Pick 6 will launch on Thursday, April 22, Opening Day of the lucrative Belmont spring/summer meet which will feature 59 stakes races worth $16.95 million in total purse money.

The implementation of a retail-only $1 Pick 6 is part of a pilot program in response to horseplayer interest in wagers that reward the daily player with the opportunity for impressive payouts.

“Our community of horseplayers have expressed interest in a traditional Pick 6 wager that will provide a challenging sequence and significant payouts,” said Joe Longo, NYRA General Manager of Content Services. “By raising the bet's base minimum to $1, the Pick 6 remains an accessible multi-race wager for players of varying bankrolls while maintaining the possibility for a lucrative carryover day.”

Featuring a $1 bet minimum and 15 percent takeout, the Pick 6 wager requires bettors to select the first-place finisher of six designated races on the card. A total of 75 percent of the full pool, minus takeout, will be distributed to bettors who select the first-place finisher of all six races. A consolation payout of 25 percent of the net pool will be distributed to tickets selecting 5-of-6 winners. In the event there are no tickets with six winners, there will be a carryover of 75 percent of the net pool into the next day of the meet with the remaining 25 percent of the net pool distributed as a consolation payout to tickets selecting the first-place finisher in the greatest number of races on the card. On carryover days, the Pick 6 is offered with a 24 percent takeout.

The Pick 6 replaces the Empire 6, a jackpot style wager featuring a $0.20 bet minimum first offered in August 2019 at Saratoga Race Course.

For more information, please visit www.NYRA.com.

The post Upcoming Belmont Meet To Offer Traditional Pick 6 Wager With 15 Percent Takeout appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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America’s Day At The Races Telecast To Feature Apple Blossom Showdown, Closing Weekend At Aqueduct

America's Day at the Races, the acclaimed national telecast produced by the New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) in partnership with FOX Sports, will air 19.5 hours of coverage Thursday through Sunday, with stakes action from Oaklawn Park and Aqueduct Racetrack.

Presented by America's Best Racing and Claiborne Farm, America's Day at the Races will broadcast live racing action from the Hot Springs, Arkansas oval featuring a battle between champions Monomoy Girl and Swiss Skydiver in the Grade 1, $1 million Apple Blossom Handicap as well as Closing Weekend of the 11-day spring meet at the Big A.

Broadcast schedule for America's Day at the Races (all times Eastern):

Thursday, April 15
FS2: 1 – 6:30 p.m.

Friday, April 16
FS2: 1 – 6:30 p.m.

Saturday, April 17
FS2: 5 – 8:00 p.m.

Sunday, April 18
FS2: 1 – 2:30 p.m.
FS1: 2:30 – 5:30 p.m.
FS2: 5:30 – 6:30 p.m.

Stakes action from Oaklawn kicks off on Friday, April 16 with a pair of $150,000 stakes for horses bred in Arkansas, including the Rainbow for sophomore sprinters in Race 6 at 5:09 p.m. ET and the Rainbow Miss for sophomore fillies in Race 9 at 6:10 p.m. ET.

Saturday's Oaklawn card will see Silver State seek his fifth consecutive win when he takes on a field of eight in the Grade 2, $1 million Oaklawn Handicap at nine furlongs for older horses in Race 9 at 5:49 p.m. Trained by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen, Silver State launched his win streak in Kentucky with an allowance win in October at Keeneland ahead of an optional-claiming score at Churchill Downs a month later. He enters off two wins at Oaklawn in the Fifth Season in January and the Essex Handicap last out on March 13.

The 1 1/16-mile Apple Blossom for older fillies and mares in Race 11 at 7:09 p.m. offers a heavyweight battle as the reigning champion older dirt female Monomoy Girl takes on last year's champion 3-year-old filly Swiss Skydiver.

Trained by Brad Cox and owned by My Racehorse Stable, Spendthrift Farm and Madaket Stables, Monomoy Girl has banked more than $4.5 million in earnings from a record of 14 wins in 16 starts. A winner of the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Distaff in 2018 and 2020, Monomoy Girl captured the Grade 3 Bayakoa in her seasonal debut on February 28 in the slop at Oaklawn. Florent Geroux has the call aboard Monomoy Girl from the outermost post 6.

Peter J. Callahan's Swiss Skydiver, trained by Kenny McPeek, boasts a record of 13-7-3-1 with purse earnings in excess of $2 million. The Daredevil chestnut captured the Grade 1 Alabama at Saratoga in August ahead of a runner-up effort to Shedaresthedevil in the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks. Swiss Skydiver exited that effort to best the boys in the Grade 1 Preakness before ending a five-win campaign with an off-the-board effort in the Breeders' Cup Distaff. She launched her 4-year-old season with a score in the Grade 1 Beholder Mile on March 13 at Santa Anita Park. Robby Albarado retains the mount from post 2.

The compact 11-day Big A spring meet comes to a close this weekend. Saturday's action includes the $100,000 Woodhaven at 1 1/16-miles on turf for sophomores in Race 8 at 5:19 p.m.

On Sunday, the $100,000 Memories of Silver will feature sophomore fillies trying 1 1/16-miles on the turf, while the $200,000 NYSSS Park Avenue will feature eligible New York-sired sophomore fillies sprinting 6 1/2-furlongs.

America's Day at the Races is also broadcast on NYRA's YouTube channel which boasts more than 65,000 subscribers. Fans can subscribe to NYRA's channel and set a reminder to watch the show on YouTube Live. NYRA's YouTube channel also hosts a plethora of race replays, special features, America's Day at the Races replays and more.

Free Equibase-provided past performances are available for races that are part of the America's Day at the Races broadcast and can be accessed at https://www.nyra.com/aqueduct/racing/tv-schedule.

NYRA Bets is the official wagering platform of Aqueduct Racetrack, and the best way to bet every race of the winter meet. Available to horseplayers nationwide, the NYRA Bets app is available for download today on iOS and Android at www.NYRABets.com.

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Cuomo Announces Fans Can Return to New York Tracks April 23

In a surprising development, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced Wednesday that fans may return to the state's racetracks starting Apr. 23. Attendance will be capped at 20% capacity.

A few hours after Cuomo's announcement, NYRA officials were still considering their options and would not commit to allowing fans to attend as soon as Apr. 23.

“The New York Racing Association, Inc. looks forward to welcoming fans back to Belmont Park this spring and to Saratoga Race Course this summer,” NYRA President and CEO Dave O'Rourke. “We thank Governor Cuomo for the opportunity to host fans at our historic tracks for the first time since the start of the pandemic. We will announce ticketing options for fans once we further review the guidelines and protocols set forth for thoroughbred tracks in New York state. NYRA has dearly missed the passion and excitement that fans bring to the sport of thoroughbred racing. Today's announcement by the Governor is one more indication that we are collectively moving toward a return to normalcy.”

Belmont is scheduled to open for its spring meet Apr. 22.

NYRA spokesman Pat McKenna said that it was premature to predict how many fans will be allowed to attend the GI Belmont S. card and the Saratoga races.

“As the rate of vaccination continues to increase across New York State, we are optimistic that capacity restrictions will continue to ease in the coming months in advance of the Belmont Stakes and the 2021 summer meet at Saratoga Race Course,” he said. “We miss our fans dearly, and look forward to seeing them soon back where they belong.”

NYRA has not been allowed to have on-track fans since March 2020, when the pandemic started to shut down the entire country.

It remains to be seen how many fans will be allowed at each facility under the 20% guideline. In 2015, NYRA decided to cap the attendance at cavernous Belmont Park for the Belmont Stakes at 90,000. That could mean that about 18,000 people will be allowed to attend the final leg of the Triple Crown. With vaccinations readily available in the state, the 20% guideline will no doubt change at some point with even more fans being allowed.

The numbers for record crowds at Saratoga are misleading because they include days when the attendance was artificially inflated due to “spinners” going through the turnstiles more than once to collect added giveaway items. The record crowd for the GI Travers day is 60,486. That could mean NYRA will be allowed to welcome about 12,000 fans a day to the popular upstate track.

Cuomo appeared at Belmont Wednesday to do a press briefing, but never mentioned the decision to allow fans back on track. He did take the opportunity to commend the New York racing community for its response to a barn fire Monday in which all but two horses were rescued.

“Due to really extraordinary effort by first responders, the fire department and the staff here at NYRA. Fifty-eight horses were saved,” he said. “Two horses perished, but they did a really outstanding job.”

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Cuomo Announces 20 Percent Fan Capacity For New York Tracks Starting April 23

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Wednesday that the state's auto and horse racing tracks can reopen to fans at 20 percent capacity, bringing racing into line with other outdoor sports in the state.

Spectrum News reports that the announcement comes ahead of Belmont Park's upcoming spring/summer meet, which is set to launch April 22.

Fan attendance at New York tracks has been prohibited since shortly the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The New York Racing Association released the following statement following Cuomo's announcement:

“The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) looks forward to welcoming fans back to Belmont Park this spring and to Saratoga Race Course this summer. We thank Governor Cuomo for the opportunity to host fans at our historic tracks for the first time since the start of the pandemic.

“We will announce ticketing options for fans once we further review the guidelines and protocols set forth for thoroughbred tracks in New York state.

“NYRA has dearly missed the passion and excitement that fans bring to the sport of thoroughbred racing. Today's announcement by the Governor is one more indication that we are collectively moving toward a return to normalcy.”