As Belmont opens, look for a lot more turf racing

ELMONT, N.Y. – A change of scenery, a change in corporate structure at the New York Racing Association, and a change in the quality of racing are all in the offing as Belmont Park begins its 54-day spring/summer meet Friday.

The switch to Belmont signifies more turf racing as the mammoth facility has two turf courses on which to race. There are nine turf races scheduled for the first two cards – including seven turf sprints. On Friday’s opening-day card all four turf events were drawn with fields of 12 or more. Average field size for the 30 turf races run during the Aqueduct spring meet was 7.50, while overall field size at the Big A spring session was 6.81, the second lowest figure in the last 10 years.

Overall, 103 horses entered for Friday’s opening-day card and 84 were entered for Saturday.

This Belmont meet will be the first NYRA has conducted since it was returned to private control as part of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s budget. Cuomo and the state took over control of NYRA in May 2012 after previous management was found to have short-changed bettors on certain exotic wagers.

NYRA is expected to hold its next board meeting in early May. The board meetings, held in public since December 2012, will now be private. With NYRA now back to private control, long-term plans involving Aqueduct and Belmont Park – which were never discussed at the open board meetings – are likely to get more attention.

“There are two tracks, eight miles apart. It was deemed to be best for the new board, the long-term board, to make those long-term decisions,” NYRA president and CEO Chris Kay, who is expected to become a board member, said Wednesday. “Now that long-term board is going to be in place, we will certainly be looking at the possibilities.”

While Kay said eventual consolidation to one downstate facility is among those possibilities down the road, Kay noted, “we’ve done certain things at both tracks,” including the construction of a simulcast facility and a horsemen’s lounge at Aqueduct.

One thing that hasn’t changed at Belmont is the healthy stakes schedule. There will be 62 stakes worth $18.9 million offered at this meet, a $300,000 reduction from the 2016 schedule. Of course, the $1.5 million Belmont Stakes, the third leg of the Triple Crown, tops the schedule. That June 10 card has 10 stakes, including the $1.2 million Metropolitan Handicap and the $1 million Manhattan. The Grade 1 Ogden Phipps had its purse cut from $1 million to $750,000.

Later in the meet, the $1.2 million Belmont Derby Invitational tops a July 8 card that includes the $1 million Belmont Oaks, the $750,000 Suburban – an increase of $250,000 – the Grade 3, $300,000 Dwyer – a $100,000 purse cut – and the Grade 2, $350,000 Belmont Sprint Championship.

The opening of Belmont means the top trainers are back in New York in full force, including Chad Brown, last year’s Eclipse Award-winning trainer who won a meet-best 38 races last summer at Belmont. Brown has brought back some of his top guns, including Connect and Sea Calisi, who will start in the Grade 3 Westchester and Grade 2 Sheepshead Bay, respectively, next Saturday. Last year, Brown trained Flintshire to a turf championship for Juddmonte Farms. This year, he has the talented Time Test for Juddmonte. He will be running in the Fort Marcy, also on May 6.

“We have a lot of horses that are coming back and rounding into form while Belmont’s opening; we try to time it that way, it doesn’t always work,” Brown said. “Hopefully, we do have a strong meet. It’s like the NFL – a lot of people look good in Week 1. You have to hope you don’t have many injuries through the course of the season.”

Todd Pletcher, Bill Mott, and Christophe Clement also are expected back with their best runners. Robertino Diodoro and Chad Summers will have strings here for the first time.

Javier Castellano, Jose Ortiz, Joel Rosario, and John Velazquez will be riding in New York full-time once the Kentucky Derby is over. Joe Bravo will be riding full-time in New York with Jim Riccio Jr. taking his book following the Derby. Riccio also represents Jose Ortiz. With Monmouth Park running on a limited schedule, Paco Lopez will ride more frequently in New York.

Post time most days through the Belmont meet is 1:30 p.m. Eastern with exceptions on certain big days. Belmont will host five Twilight Friday programs beginning June 2 through July 7 – but not June 9 – with a first post of 3:05 p.m.