Horsemen enthusiastic about the new Belmont and a return to normalcy

ELMONT, N.Y. – Sitting on the second floor of the new Belmont Park grandstand as training wound down on a recent rainy morning, trainer Shug McGaughey was asked what he thought about all newness surrounding him.

“It’s quite astonishing, to tell you the truth,” said McGaughey, who at 75 is among the most veteran horsemen on the New York circuit. “I think it’ll take a little getting used to, getting in and out. When they get people in it and when they get it done and get all the kinks out of it – which will be maybe next summer – I think it’ll be a really nice facility. It really looks great looking out over it.”

For as much fanfare as the new grandstand will receive when Belmont opens for racing Friday – its first live racing in more than 38 months – it is really the new racing surfaces that will have the most relevance to horsemen.

:: DRF has you covered for the Belmont meet! Shop for PPs, Clocker Reports, Picks and more.

The main track and two turf courses were totally redone and a new Tapeta surface was installed to be used at first for off-the-turf races and then for racing during the winter. NYRA does plan to start carding a couple of Tapeta races a week in November as a prelude to the winter meet, according to Andrew Offerman, NYRA’s senior vice president racing/operations.

The Tapeta and main track have been open for training since early summer and most of the feedback has been positive.

“I’m satisfied with all of it,” said McGaughey, who after breezing two horses on Tapeta on Sunday said, “I think it’s real good.”

Tom Morley, 42, was even more bullish on the new facility.

“I think it’s spectacular, I really do,” Morley said. “This is what we need, this is the future of American racing. Everything from the jocks’ room to the paddock and most importantly, in my opinion, the racing surfaces are phenomenal. We have had horses that have thrived on the Tapeta, we have had horses that have done fantastically well on the main track here. I walked on the grass courses, there isn’t a better grass course in the world. I’m 42. If this is the rest of my life, great.”

Mark Hennig, 61, called the new facility “great” and, like management, understands there will be some growing pains along the way.

“We’re going to have to iron out a few kinks as you’d expect once everything gets open and running,” Hennig said. “Now that there’s a lot of horsemen here training, I think we can give good feedback on things that they might do to make things better.”

Hennig said one thing he’d like to see is a fence constructed between the main track and training track so horses on one track don’t potentially get spooked by those on the other.

“These horses are seeing each other as they’re coming at each other,” Hennig said.

Horsemen are happy to be back racing at Belmont rather than just training here and having to ship to Aqueduct or Saratoga to race.

“I’m excited about it. Fresh surfaces to work with, particularly new turf courses, should be really beneficial for one part of my stable,” said Chad Brown, the perennial leading trainer at Belmont. “New distances introduced on the turf, gives you more options there. We’ve been training on the main track, which is riding very, very well so far.

“All in all, Belmont Park has been the base of my operation for most of my career because it’s the only division that I have that runs year-round. It’s the central hub of my training business. To get it back in place where it’s more streamlined and a bit more organized both for my team members and my horses’ consistency – less shipping over to Aqueduct, new surfaces, horses more familiar with where they’re running – is great.”

The introduction of the Tapeta surface has met with consternation by some. Trainer Rudy Rodriguez said he has applied for stalls at Fair Grounds, and Linda Rice, who typically is the leading trainer here in the winter, said she may look at Maryland or Oaklawn in the winter for some of her dirt horses.

“I’ll navigate it somehow,” Rice said of the Tapeta.

Trainer Todd Pletcher said he isn’t sure if the Tapeta track will entice him to leave more horses in New York for the winter.

“I think it’s going to be an experiment for everyone except for guys that are running on synthetic already,” Pletcher said. “Maybe not all synthetic tracks are alike either. It just kind of makes it a little bit tricky trying to figure out which horses to leave for the winter. Do you want to leave your turf horses there or do you want to take them down to Florida, where you’re going to run on turf?”

Still, Pletcher is just happy to have racing back at Belmont.

“I think it’ll be nice to get back there and get back into that routine and get [Saratoga] back to 40 days and have the Belmont [Stakes] at Belmont,” he said.

:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.