Horses try out new Aqueduct turf course

ELMONT, N.Y. – When Aqueduct opens its fall meet on Nov. 3, it will unveil a new turf course. On Wednesday, horses were permitted on the course for the first time, with trainer Rudy Rodriguez sending out four horses to gallop over it.

“There were some parts on the [clubhouse] turn where the grass came back up, but most of it looked pretty good,” said Rodriguez, who was on one of the horses himself. “It looks like it’s holding up really good. Of course, it’ll be different when you breeze over it or when they start racing on it.”

Martin Panza, the New York Racing Association’s senior vice president of racing operations, walked the course afterward and declared it “ready to go.”

The new turf course was laid down this summer, replacing the one-mile inner dirt track. The course, which will be able to accommodate three different rail settings, will enable the racing office to write turf sprints, though they will be limited to one a day this fall, according to Panza.

All dirt racing at Aqueduct from November through April will be conducted on the outer track, which will now have a limestone base and will resemble the Belmont training track in composition.