While there will be some price increases in admission and seating for this year’s Belmont Stakes, they are not nearly as steep as initially thought when NYRA president and chief executive Chris Kay suggested they would be in line with prices for the Kentucky Derby.
Grandstand admission to the Belmont Stakes on June 7 will remain at $10, while clubhouse admission will increase by $10 to $30, the New York Racing Association announced Monday.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Mucho Macho Man returned to the track for the first time here Monday since his fourth-place finish nine days earlier in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap.
[Clocker Reports: Get Mike Welsch’s clocker reports from Gulfstream Park and Palm Meadows]
The Godolphin-owned entry of Long River, who drew the rail, and Romansh, who drew the extreme outside, heads the field of seven entered Monday for Saturday’s Grade 3, $150,000 Excelsior Stakes, the final stakes race of the inner-track season.
Long River, trained by Kiaran McLaughlin, has won his last three starts, including the Evening Attire on Jan. 18, while Romansh, trained by Tom Albertrani, returns to New York, where last year he won the Grade 3 Discovery over the main track. Romansh is coming off a last-place finish in the Donn Handicap.
When Iratinelexburance won Aqueduct's fourth race on March 14, it not only broke a long losing streak for trainer Rick Schosberg, but it proved to be a milestone victory as well.
Iratinelexburance gave Schosberg the 800th win of his training career while ending an 0-for-42 skid that dated back to Nov. 1.
Making the victory a little more special was that the horse was owned by his father, Paul Schosberg.
“We were just waiting for the right time,” Rick Schosberg quipped. “I wanted it to be dad’s horse. Her last three races I thought were going to be it.”
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Despite offering a $1 million purse and 170 Kentucky Derby qualifying points and being one of the most prestigious of all the Kentucky Derby preps, the Grade 1 Florida Derby on March 29 seems to be lacking interest among horsemen.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Trainer Dale Romans said he will skip the Florida Derby with Medal Count, who finished fifth, beaten 8 1/4 lengths by Wildcat Red, in the Fountain of Youth. Medal Count won his turf debut in a dead heat here this winter under high-priced entry-level optional-claiming conditions.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – In order for Noble Moon to be ready to run in the $1 million Wood Memorial on April 5, he had to start showing trainer Leah Gyarmati more in his morning training than he had been.
On Monday, Noble Moon took a positive step toward the Wood Memorial by working five furlongs in 1:01.54 over the Belmont Park training track. It was the second-fastest of 10 works at the distance, with the fastest move having been posted by a horse who worked out of the starting gate. Noble Moon, who worked in company, worked from the pole.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Jockey Edgar Prado badly bruised his right shoulder after falling from his mount Go Go Romeo during Sunday’s 10th race. The stewards called the race a no-contest and had the riders pull their horses up prior to the finish line as a safety precaution, with Prado still laying on the course near the clubhouse turn.
[Clocker Reports: Get Mike Welsch’s clocker reports from Gulfstream Park and Palm Meadows]
ARCADIA, Calif. - Rafael Bejarano, the meet’s leading rider, won three races on Sunday, highlighted by Stormy Lucy’s victory in the Grade 2 Santa Ana Stakes for female turf runners.
Bejarano had never ridden Stormy Lucy, hadn’t even worked her, but no one does more extensive homework before a race. Bejarano pores over past performances, and gets eye strain from watching videos. All that preparation paid off.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Sahara Sky, who won the San Carlos Stakes on March 8, worked a half-mile in 50.80 seconds on Sunday morning as he prepares for his next start, either the Grade 1 Carter at Aqueduct on April 5 or the Grade 2 Potrero Grande at Santa Anita on April 12.
