Thursday, October 25 2012
G3 BOLD RULER, G3 TURNBACK THE ALARM HIGHLIGHT CLOSING WEEKEND
ELMONT, N.Y. – Closing weekend at Belmont Park is highlighted by a pair of Grade 3 races, with both the $150,000 Bold Ruler Handicap and the $150,000 Turnback the Alarm Handicap for fillies and mares set for Saturday, the penultimate day of racing.
After Sunday’s final card, thoroughbred action moves to Aqueduct Racetrack beginning Friday, November 2, with opening day offering the simulcast of Day 1 of the Breeders’ Cup from Santa Anita Park.
$102K PICK 6 CARRYOVER ADDS ZIP TO THURSDAY CARD
ELMONT, N.Y. – Go Get the Basil ($49.60) won Wednesday’s fifth race at Belmont Park, the opening leg of the Pick 6 sequence, to help trigger a two-day carryover of $102,854.
Even with favorites winning races 7 and 9, there were no live tickets heading into the ninth and final race of the day, won by long shot Northern Tripp ($61.50). There were 13 tickets that correctly tabbed five of six winners, with the consolation returning $1,838.
Monday, October 22 2012
BELMONT PARK NOTES - Sunday, October 21, 2012
• Awesome Feather, Corporate Jungle work for Breeders’ Cup; Brown prepares for Monday turf works
• Sciacca proud of Empire Classic runner-up Saratoga Snacks
• Hudson winner Mine Over Matter has found his niche sprinting; The Lumber Guy preps for Breeders’ Cup
• Pletcher foursome breezes for Breeders’ Cup
Sunday, October 21 2012
SHOWCASE DAY QUOTES:
MCMAHON OF SARATOGA MOHAWK (NYB) QUOTES
JOSEPH A. GIMMA (NYB) QUOTES
TICONDEROGA (NYB) QUOTES
BERTRAM F. BONGARD (NYB) QUOTES
HUDSON (NYB) QUOTES
IROQUOIS (NYB) QUOTES
MULTIPLE GRADE 1 WINNER IT’S TRICKY RETIRED
ELMONT, N.Y. – Godolphin Racing’s multiple Grade 1 winner It’s Tricky has been retired with an injury to her right hind ankle, trainer Kiaran McLaughlin announced Saturday afternoon.
The 4-year-old Mineshaft filly sustained the beginnings of a condylar fracture to the ankle during a bullet five-furlong breeze Thursday morning as she prepared for the Breeders’ Cup next month at Santa Anita, said the trainer.
LUNAR VICTORY EDGES SARATOGA SNACKS TO WIN EMPIRE CLASSIC
ELMONT, N.Y. – Odds-on favorite Lunar Victory outkicked a game Saratoga Snacks in a dramatic stretch duel and hit the wire 1 ¼ lengths in front to take Saturday’s $250,000 Empire Classic, the centerpiece of New York Showcase Day at Belmont Park.
Carrying the colors of Juddmonte Farms – which earlier in the day at Ascot Racecourse saw its homebred Frankel close out his career with a perfect 14-for-14 record – Lunar Victory raced in midpack as Saratoga Snacks carried the field of eight New York-breds through an opening half mile in 46.61 seconds. The 5-year-old son of Speightstown drew alongside the pacesetter on the turn and the two straightened for home in tandem, with Lunar Victory prevailing after a spirited tussle to the final sixteenth.
Saturday, October 20 2012
BELMONT PARK’S NEW YORK SHOWCASE DAY
MSG+ TO FEATURE STATE’S TOP THOROUGHBREDS AT BELMONT PARK’S NEW YORK SHOWCASE DAY
Saturday, October 20 at 4:00 p.m.
Two Hours of Live Stakes Races Featuring New York-Bred Horses
New York, NY (October 18, 2012) - MSG Networks and The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) will present Belmont Park’s annual New York Showcase Day on Saturday, October 20 starting at 4:00 p.m. on MSG+. The live, two-hour telecast, part of The New York Racing Series, will feature four of the seven stakes races on the day’s card.
BELMONT PARK NOTES - Friday, October 19, 2012
• Jacobson gives Fiddlers Afleet spot in the spotlight in Empire Classic
• NYRA Rewards members can bet on UK, Irish racing beginning tomorrow
• Caixa Eletronica heads Pletcher trio for closing weekend stakes
• Spring to the Sky returns to dirt for G3 Bold Ruler
• Fields coming together for final weekend stakes
• Nihei mulling options for sharp 2-year-old turf winner Draw Two
• Live New York Showcase Day broadcast on Sirius Radio from 4-6 p.m.
Thursday, October 18 2012
STATE-BREDS TAKE CENTER STAGE ON NEW YORK SHOWCASE DAY
ELMONT, N.Y. – More than 70 top New York-breds will gather Saturday for the seven stakes highlighting Belmont Park’s annual New York Showcase Day, celebrating the best of the Empire State.
The centerpiece of the card, which features 10 races restricted to horses bred in New York and will be telecast on MSG+ from 4-6 p.m., is the 36th running of the $250,000 Empire Classic for 3-year-olds and up. A field of nine, including the 3-year-old filly Haldane, will contest the 1 1/8-mile race, in which 5-year-old Lunar Victory is the 8-5 favorite to pick up his fifth win in six 2012 starts for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott.
Sunday, October 14 2012
BELMONT PARK NOTES - October 14, 2012
• Hessonite on track for Ticonderoga following eventful Flower Bowl
• Bush has Unbridled Command, Beautiful But Blue, and Wholelottashakin for NY Showcase Day Stakes
• Risky Rachel has Coronel aglow in lead up to Iroquois
• Lubash, Miss Valentine to carry the torch for Clement on Showcase Day
• New York Showcase Day fields taking shape
ELMONT, N.Y. – Hessonite, a troubled fifth in the Grade 1 Flower Bowl Invitational on September 29, remains on target for a title defense in the $175,000 Ticonderoga on October 20, New York Showcase Day at Belmont Park.
QUOTES FOR KNICKERBOCKER & ATHENIA
KNICKERBOCKER (G3) QUOTES
Buzz Tenney, assistant to winning trainer Shug McGaughey, of Boisterous (No. 3): “He runs good over this course. He’s been third in two Grade 1s here, and this is four races he’s won over this course. [Jose Lezcano] got him in a good position early in the race, and I think that’s the key with him. I think he likes to get in position early, be patient, and find a hole to finish through.”
KNICKERBOCKER / ATHENIA
BOISTEROUS REPEATS IN KNICKERBOCKER; LA CLOCHE RINGS TRUE IN ATHENIA
By Jon Forbes
ELMONT, N.Y. – A pair of homebreds swept Saturday’s turf stakes at Belmont Park, with Phipps Stable’s Boisterous repeating in the Grade 3, $150,000 Knickerbocker and the Phillips Racing Partnership’s La Cloche posting a breakthrough win in the Grade 3, $150,000 Athenia for fillies and mares.
