ELMONT, N.Y. -- Horsemen with runners in Saturday’s $1.5 million Belmont Stakes did not seem overly upset they were unable to train their horses Thursday at Belmont Park.
Due to the poor air quality conditions in the New York area stemming from the wind-blown smoke from the Canadian wildfires, the New York Racing Association announced Wednesday evening that it had canceled training for Thursday at both Belmont Park and Saratoga Race Course.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Though the funding mechanism is now in place to construct a new Belmont Park, there is still much to be learned about the project. When could construction begin, what does it entail, and what will it look like when it’s done?
Some answers could be forthcoming as early as August when the New York Racing Association hopes to reveal plans to the Franchise Oversight Board, a monitoring body put in place years ago by the state to oversee NYRA’s business practices.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Thursday’s live racing program at Belmont Park was canceled due to the air-quality issue impacting the Northeast from the Canadian wildfires, the New York Racing Association announced Thursday morning.
NYRA is hopeful that racing – and training – will be able to resume Friday, when conditions are expected to improve. Belmont has an 11-race card Friday with five stakes races. First post Friday is 12:50 p.m.
Of course, Saturday is Belmont Stakes Day with an 11-race program including nine stakes that begins at 11:20 a.m.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Training Thursday at Belmont Park and Saratoga Race Course has been canceled due to poor air-quality conditions forecast to continue to impact New York state overnight and into Thursday morning, the New York Racing Association announced Wednesday evening.
Training hours at Belmont Park are from 5:30-10:30 a.m. and at Saratoga from 5:30-11 a.m.
ELMONT, N.Y. - The Belmont Park undercard leading up to Saturday’s Belmont Stakes figures to be just as compelling and entertaining as the main event itself and offers eight graded stakes, five of them Grade 1’s, topped by the $1 million Metropolitan Mile.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Raise Cain, the eighth-place finisher from the Kentucky Derby, has been rerouted from Saturday’s $1.5 million Belmont Stakes to Sunday’s Grade 3, $400,000 Matt Winn Stakes at Ellis Park, trainer Ben Colebrook said Monday afternoon.
The Matt Winn was originally scheduled to be run at 1 1/16 miles at Churchill Downs. With the decision to stop racing at Churchill due to the spate of equine fatalities this spring and move racing scheduled for Churchill to Ellis Park, the Matt Winn will now be run at 1 1/8 miles.
While Churchill Downs begins conducting the remainder of its spring-summer meet at Ellis Park this Saturday, turf racing at Ellis will not begin until June 15, according to a notice sent to horsemen. Thus, the $225,000 Mighty Beau Stakes for older turf sprinters, which was to have been run Saturday, has been moved to June 18. It will be run at 5 1/2 furlongs, a slight change from the original five furlongs, to accommodate the different course. Nominations were re-opened for the race, which originally closed May 27.
Gun Runner hinted at talent as a 2-year-old, was a Grade 2 winner and third in the Kentucky Derby early in his 3-year-old campaign, and became a Grade 1 winner toward the end of that season. But as an older horse, he was nearly untouchable, ending his career on a streak of five Grade 1 wins and voted the 2017 Horse of the Year for co-owners Winchell Thoroughbreds and Three Chimneys and trainer Steve Asmussen.
Trainer Kenny McPeek looked loaded for bear with his 2-year-olds at the end of 2021. Rattle N Roll won the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland, and Smile Happy took both his starts at Churchill Downs, including the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club, stoking additional hopes of success back under the twin spires the following spring. But neither colt made an impact on the 2022 Triple Crown trail.
