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NYRA’s Renovation of Belmont’s Pony Track Complete

The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) has installed a Tapeta Footings synthetic surface at Belmont's pony track, located just to the northeast of Belmont's training track. The quarter-mile pony track, which is used mostly for jogging horses, will be open seven days a week from 5:30-10:30 a.m. beginning Tuesday, Dec. 6.

“Modern synthetic surfaces have a wide range of applications for horsemen and track operators alike, and we look forward to working with the product every day and in all seasons at Belmont Park,” said Glen Kozak, NYRA Senior Vice President, Operations and Capital Projects.

NYRA plans to collect data from the new pony track to help decide whether to add a synthetic track as the fourth Belmont Park racing surface.

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Op/Ed: The King of Sports

Throughout the nation, the horse racing industry is under both increased scrutiny and pressure to reduce the number of equine fatalities and breakdowns. While progress has been made at many tracks, in recent years, i.e. Turfway, Woodbine, Golden Gate, and Gulfstream, there is less of a tolerance than ever for equine injuries and fatalities, as doping scandals have marred our most cherished events and as advocates and animal rights groups such as PETA have gained momentum.

Horse racing is under real pressure to enhance safety, with many critics seeking to outright abolish the sport. But it would be a mistake to believe that this conversation is limited to traditional critics or fringe voices. The attacks on our sport are gaining wider support and becoming more strategic. In October 2021, the San Diego Democratic Party passed a resolution calling to ban gambling on state-sponsored horse races in California. The group said they have both a moral and financial obligation to phase it out. Just weeks ago in New York, horse racing opponents in the state legislature challenged the economic benefits of the industry and proposed ending critical state subsidies. Understand, their goal is to eliminate the sport, not through an outright ban but by starving it of revenues.

Our industry has taken steps toward better regulation through the adoption of such initiatives as the Horse Racing Integrity and Safety Act, but high-profile scandals and equine deaths remain weekly headlines. As we have witnessed in these turbulent times, the pace of change in our world is accelerating, not just technologically, but socially. The world can and does literally change overnight. Dating back to the colonial era, horse racing, America's oldest sport, is more at risk than ever of being relegated to the dustbin of history.

It is time for bold action to address horse safety. It is long overdue. And why shouldn't we do what we can to secure the health and safety of the horses we love; that touch our very soul. It is time we implemented a program to transition dirt tracks to safer synthetic surfaces. Synthetic tracks are indisputably safer and yet instead of growing in use, they have been phased out over recent years. Del Mar, Keeneland and Santa Anita, early adopters of synthetic surfaces, have all converted back to dirt and since then have all experienced a rise in equine injuries.

Industry leaders must make this a priority. If we don't get our head out of the sand and take action, I fear the end of our sport. Ironically, COVID and the complete shutdown of almost all sports for a period of time gave our industry an opportunity to shine. Sports fans old and new, locked down at home, found refuge in horse racing, engaging more tracks here at home and around the world. The fact is with the wide adoption of mobile betting, our industry is poised for an economic and popular renaissance. Horse racing and its wide availability is becoming an essential part of the offerings that sustain mobile betting. Industry leaders are increasingly integrating horse racing into their mobile sports betting platforms. It is the future of our sport, but to realize this revival we must first save it.

Which brings us to our logical conclusion. Churchill Downs Incorporated, a publicly traded company that in addition to owning Churchill Downs and the Kentucky Derby, also owns multiple tracks, including Fair Grounds and Turfway Park, as well as several casinos, and TwinSpires, a leading mobile betting app. TwinSpires players in some jurisdictions are able to bet on professional sports, including the NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL and PGA, as well as collegiate sports and events from around the world–as well as horse racing. Churchill Downs Inc.–listed on the New York Stock Exchange–relies upon the content generated by a healthy racing industry and as such their board of directors and officers must recognize their responsibility to take the lead in advancing this cause and the overall cause of horse safety. This is not some altruistic plea. Churchill Downs's shareholders have the most to gain and everything to lose.

Kentucky is the economic and emotional epicenter of horse racing in America. Its legendary farms and breeders are a part of the folklore of our sport. The Kentucky Derby is the most famous and important horse race in the world. But there is a long-held cultural and business resistance to synthetic tracks in Kentucky. It makes sense. Like agriculture, the sport of horse racing is elementally tied to the earth. For a sport as old as America, steeped in our agrarian roots and rich in history and tradition, it is easy to understand why change is difficult. But change we must, and Churchill Downs Corporation, an entity synonymous with the most glorious of horse racing traditions, must lead the way. We're the King of Sports. Let's keep it that way.

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Strategy Queen Chasing Third Straight Win In Ginger Brew

All In Line Stables' homebred filly Strategy Queen, coming off back-to-back victories, will get the chance to make it three straight as she steps up and stretches out on a new surface for her stakes debut in Saturday's $100,000 Ginger Brew at Gulfstream Park.

Trained by Championship Meet leader Saffie Joseph Jr., Strategy Queen has yet to race on turf or beyond 5 ½ furlongs through four races. Her first two starts came on dirt, finishing fourth following a slow start in her Aug. 13 unveiling then running second after a prolonged duel with Rapturous in a Sept. 11 maiden claimer.

Strategy Queen has put together her win streak over Gulfstream's Tapeta surface, graduating by three-quarters of a length in a Sept. 30 maiden special weight before returning for a nose triumph over winners in a Nov. 19 optional claiming allowance. All of her races have come at Gulfstream.

“She's won two in a row and she's doing good. The mile is going to be a question mark, obviously, and the turf. I think she'll handle the turf, but the question will be the distance. Can she stay the mile?” Joseph said. “She's obviously never done it. She acts like she could, but until they do you never know for sure.

“She's going from two sprints to a mile. She's a filly that's kind of leggy and built long, so she looks more like a miler than a sprinter,” he added. “Sometimes they trick you into thinking they want further and they don't really want it. We feel like she can get the mile. It's a step up in class, too, but we feel like it's worth a try.”

Joseph also entered Vesgo Racing Stable homebred Li Li Bear off a maiden special weight victory Oct. 28 at Gulfstream in her first start for the trainer and first on Tapeta. Prior to that she raced twice on the dirt at Saratoga, running fourth to Echo Zulu July 15 and sixth behind Jester Calls Nojoy Sept. 5. Echo Zulu went on to win the Hopeful (G1), Frizette (G1) and Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) to compete a perfect season, while Jester Calls Nojoy was sixth in the Frizette and most recently second in the Maryland Juvenile Fillies Dec. 18 at Laurel Park.

“She ran two races in Saratoga with [trainer] Phil Gleaves and then we got her,” Joseph said. “Her first race was very good when she ran into Echo Zulu. We put her on the Tapeta because we had no grass then and she won. She acts like she'll stretch out, also. She'll be stretching out for the first time but she acts like she will. She's a filly that we think a lot of her.”

Strategy Queen will be ridden by Junior Alvarado from the rail in a field of seven, while Li Li Bear will have the services of Tyler Gaffalione from Post 2.

Teneri Farm and J Stables' Opalina returns to South Florida following a road trip to Kentucky where the daughter of Optimizer closed to be fifth, beaten 1 ½ lengths, after a troubled start in the 1 1/16-mile Jessamine (G2) Oct. 13 over a Keeneland turf rated good. She raced three times prior at Gulfstream for trainer Roderick Rodriguez, running second twice before breaking her maiden against state-breds on yielding ground Sept. 17.

Soldi Stable and Ohana Racing's Ocean Safari is also a maiden special weight winner over the Gulfstream turf. Her victory came sprinting 7 ½ furlongs over good ground Sept. 10 and was followed by a third-place finish in a one-mile, 70-yard optional claiming allowance on the Tapeta Oct. 17, her most recent effort.

Also entered are Alittleloveandluck, exiting a Nov. 12 maiden special weight triumph on the Tapeta at Gulfstream; Louella Street, a Sept. 16 winner over Laurel Park's world-class turf course who finished off the board in the Nov. 28 Tepin at Aqueduct; and maiden Lady Puchi.

The post Strategy Queen Chasing Third Straight Win In Ginger Brew appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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By The Numbers: Gulfstream’s Tapeta Surface Sees Favorites Win At 36 Percent Clip

The 2021-2022 Championship Meet will break new ground when racing is conducted on Gulfstream Park's newly constructed Tapeta surface, as well as on turf and dirt, for the first time during the winter stand that gets underway Friday.

The well-received all-weather surface, which debuted during the inaugural Fall Meet, was constructed upon the advent of year-round racing at the Hallandale Beach racetrack. While the turf course was undergoing renovation during October and November in preparation for the Championship Meet, the Tapeta course proved to be a popular alternative surface to the main track.

Gulfstream is the first racetrack in the Americas to card races on dirt, turf and an all-weather surface. There are no stakes scheduled on the Tapeta course, but the all-weather racing surface will be employed in the event stakes are transferred from the turf course due to inclement conditions.

A total of 143 races were run over the Tapeta course at the recently concluded Fall Meet while producing some expected and perhaps unexpected results.

Horses that favor turf over dirt performed well over the all-weather surface, as widely expected overall. After the first two weeks of racing on Tapeta, horses that had made their most recent starts on turf won 27 of 37 races for a whopping 73 percent. As the meet progressed and horses started running back on Tapeta with no turf races available to them, the percentage of horses going from Turf to the all-weather track dropped to 41 percent.

Favorites had a win-strike rate of 36 percent.

Horses coming from off the pace dominated during the first two weeks of racing on the Tapeta course, winning 22 of 37 races or 59 percent of the races. At meet's end, closers succeeded at a 41-percent clip. After the first two weeks only three horses won on the front end (8 percent), but the speedsters fared better as the meet went along to score at a 17-percent clip by winning 25 of 143 races. Horses pressing or stalking the pace won the remainder of the races.

Saffie Joseph Jr., who dominated the Fall Meet trainer standings, saddled 21 of his 36 winners for victories on the all-weather surface. David Fawkes ranked second with 10 winners with considerably fewer starters.

Edgard Zayas, the Fall Meet champion, led all jockeys with 16 winners on Tapeta. A resurgent Chantal Sutherland, who finished second in the Fall Meet standings, was next with 13 winners.

Gulfstream's Championship Meet kicks off Dec. 3 with a big weekend of stakes races, Claiming Crown, and the popular calendar giveaway.

Friday's 10-race program will be highlighted by two stakes races for 2-year-olds at a mile on the turf in the $75,000 Pulpit and $75,000 Wait a While for fillies.

The Pulpit could attract a full field including Eldon's Prince, a winner this summer and fall of Gulfstream's Armed Forces and Proud Man, Kitodan, who broke his maiden at Gulfstream before finishing ninth in the Hopeful (G1) at Saratoga, Duke of Love, who won his debut at Woodbine for MyRacehorse and trainer Josie Carroll, and Red Danger, second to Howling Wind in the Street Sense at Churchill Downs.

Possibles for the Wait a While include Lemieux, winner last out of the Brethren Juvenile Fillies Stakes, Myfavoritedaughter, fourth in the Del Mar Debutante (G1) in September, Gun Boat, a daughter of War Front trained by Shug McGaughey, and the Saffie Joseph-trained Sister Lou Ann.

Gulfstream's first Saturday of the Championship Meet will be highlighted by the Claiming Crown, a nine-race event offering $810,000 in purses. Along with watching some of racing's most popular, blue-collar horses, fans can get their free 2022 calendar on Saturday beginning at 12 p.m. Calendars will be available at the north and south entrances.

Entries for Friday card will be taken Tuesday.

The month of December will also feature four graded stakes on Saturday, Dec. 18, headlined by the $200,000 Fort Lauderdale (G2). Gulfstream's Championship Meet will feature major races every week with spectacular weekend events, including $5.2 million Pegasus World Cup Day Jan. 29, $650,000 Holy Bull Day Feb. 5, $1.7 million Fountain of Youth Day March 5, and the $2.2 million Florida Derby Day April 2.

Gulfstream's concert series will also kick into gear during the Championship Meet in the Sport of Kings Theater with Jefferson Starship Jan. 2, The Wall and Beyond, an Exclusive Pink Floyd Experience Jan. 15, Voices of Classic Soul Jan. 20, and The Immediate Family Feb. 20.

For more information go to: https://gulfstreampark.com/events-and-entertainment/event-calendar

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