A New York Supreme Court judge dismissed a lawsuit brought by two New York residents seeking to declare unconstitutional the $455 million loan the state approved in the spring for the New York Racing Association to renovate Belmont Park, meaning the project will be able to move forward.

Judge Peter Lynch issued his ruling just one day after oral arguments were presented in court from both sides.

The official time of the Breeders’ Futurity on Oct. 7 at Keeneland was revised this week from 1:45.06 to 1:44.62 after hand-timing of race video revealed a discrepancy with the 1 1/16-mile race’s initial clocking. 

Locked, who overcame a wide trip to win the Grade 1 race for 2-year-olds, had his Beyer Speed Figure raised from an 87 to a 92. The Todd Pletcher-trained colt, one of the favorites for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, got a 96 Beyer for his maiden win at Saratoga in his start before the Breeders’ Futurity. 

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Due to inclement weather that will likely impact turf racing Sunday at Aqueduct, the New York Racing Association has postponed two turf stakes scheduled for Sunday and will run them next week.

The $125,000 Glen Cove Stakes, for 3-year-old fillies scheduled for six furlongs, has been pushed to Thursday. It will be open to original nominees and supplements and be drawn Saturday.

Juan Hernandez, the leading rider at the current Santa Anita autumn meeting, has been given a three-day suspension from Oct. 20-22 by Santa Anita stewards for careless riding in the Grade 3 Zuma Beach Stakes last Sunday.

Hernandez was cited for altering course without sufficient clearance in the stretch of the one-mile turf race for 2-year-olds. Endlessly won by 2 1/4 lengths, but Formidable Man, who finished sixth, was forced to alter course when Endlessly moved out in the stretch.

Bill McLean was forewarned.

After he claimed Morning Addiction for $10,000 at Del Mar on Sept. 1, McLean was warned by fellow trainer Quinn Howey that the 6-year-old mare had a few quirky habits.

McLean, and everyone watching Golden Gate Fields on Sept. 30, saw the oddities themselves when Morning Addiction won a $12,500 claimer at 5 1/2 furlongs.

Jockey Julien Leparoux, an Eclipse Award-winning rider nearing 3,000 career wins in North America, will be based at Oaklawn Park for the first time this winter, agent Jose Santos Jr. said Wednesday.

Leparoux is currently riding at Keeneland. He will head to Arkansas following the upcoming Churchill Downs meet. Santos said Leparoux is scheduled to begin working horses at Oaklawn the first week in December. The meet opens Dec. 8.

Leparoux in the past has wintered at Gulfstream Park.

Trainer Dan Blacker faces a possible fine or suspension after failing to complete pre-workout veterinary exams for runners in his stable on more than 500 occasions in an 18-month period ending on July 1, according to a complaint on the California Horse Racing Board’s website.

A hearing in the case was scheduled for Friday, but has been postponed, according to steward Kim Sawyer. Blacker did not return a message on Wednesday regarding the case.

David Bernstein recently retired from training in California after selling his last active runner, a situation he hopes is only temporary.

Bernstein, 83, had his last runner in March with Hoop Dream, who finished second in a $4,000 claimer at Golden Gate Fields. Hoop Dream was recently sold, Bernstein said.

“I ran out of horses,” Bernstein said on Wednesday from his home in Rancho Cucamonga. “We sold our last horse and that was it.”

(This story was originally published in 2017 and has been updated)

COUNT FLEET
1944 C. HEWITT
“THE CHAMP”.

The simple words were scratched into wet cement more than three-quarters of a century ago.

In a corner of a long neglected and dimly-lit Belmont feed room, the words barely discernible a few years back have since disappeared beneath a layer of mud. A leaky nearby washer and still-used hose occasionally wet them; people working there walk on them.

No one – even those still stabled in the old barn – notice them.