Tag: New York Horse Racing

Chad Brown won his seventh training title with a record 47 victories. (Image: NYRA Photo)

Chad Brown, Irad Ortiz Jr. Capture Belmont Park Training, Riding Titles

Chad Brown added to his record-extending seventh consecutive Belmont Park Spring/Summer training title when the conditioner racked up 47 victories. Brown’s 47 victories eclipsed David Jacobson’s 2013 mark of 44 set over a 56-day meet. Brown’s 47 came in 44 days. “My team should be very proud of themselves and […]

To the victor goes the flower blanket. McKulick and jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. bask in the Belmont Park winner's circle after winning the Grade 1 Belmont Oaks Saturday. (Image: SR Photo)

Star Filly McKulick Puts Everything Together, Wins Belmont Oaks

McKulick was named after trainer Chad Brown’s former bookkeeper, the late Mary McKulick. The filly was the daughter of the legendary sire Frankel. That sire was named after the late Bobby Frankel, the Hall of Fame trainer who Brown apprenticed for before heading out on his Eclipse Award-winning career. The […]

Classic Causeway held off heralded European turf runners Nationls Pride adn Stone Age to win the Grade 1 Belmont Derby at 26/1. It was his first race on grass in his nine-race career. (Image: NYRA Photo)

Classic Causeway Proves the Grass is Greener, Wins Belmont Derby

Classic Causeway came into the Grade 1 Belmont Derby Invitational as an afterthought, the “other” horse in Kenny McPeek’s barn. The “other” horse making his turf debut a mere two weeks after finishing third in the Grade 3 Ohio Derby. He came out of it a Grade 1 winner, a […]

Nations Pride is one of five European invaders to Saturday's Grade 1 Belmont Derby at Belmont Park. He is the 5/1 second choice. (Image: Godolphin)

Yes, There’s a Heavy European Flavor to the Belmont Derby

Based on what we saw in the Grade 1 Belmont Derby Invitational last year, this European invasion wasn’t only predictable, it was expected. After supertrainer Aidan O’Brien sent Bolshoi Ballet across the Atlantic and into the Belmont Park winner’s circle in 2021, the British are definitely coming. So are the […]

Dynamic One comes into the Grade 2 Suburban off his first victory of 2022. The 4-year-old is sizzling trainer Todd Pletcher's best prospect to grab the conditioner he second Suburban title. (Image: Adam Coglianese/NYRA Photo)

Hot-Handed Pletcher Driving Dynamic One Into the Suburban

With the Grade 2 Suburban Stakes on the agenda, Todd Pletcher isn’t slowing down on making Belmont Park his personal playground. Not this weekend, when he sends out Dynamic One and Untreated in Saturday’s Suburban on Belmont Park’s closing weekend. The Suburban, which sends its 4-year-olds and up 10 furlongs […]

Gerrymander's three-length victory in Saturday's Grade 2 Mother Goose Stakes at Belmont Park established her as a 3-year-old filly to watch going forward. (Image: Coglianese Photos)

Gerrymander Carves Out Her Spot Among the Top Sophomore Fillies

As if this year’s 3-year-old filly class wasn’t already loaded with talent, now you can add Gerrymander to the list of first-row sophomores who bear attention every time they enter a starting gate. In case you needed more proof that the likes of Secret Oath, Nest (more on her in […]

Trainer Rodolphe Brisset puts We the People through his Friday morning paces at Belmont Park. He is the 2/1 morning line favorite to win Saturday's 2022 Belmont Stakes. (Image: Skip . Dickstein)

Breaking Down the 2022 Belmont Stakes: Taking Constitutional Law 101

The first thing you need to remember about the Belmont Stakes is forget the long-believed idea the “Test of the Champion” is easy for closers to pass. It isn’t. It sounds counterintuitive, doesn’t it? Send horses 1 ½ miles – the longest distance any of them will ever run and […]

Flightline clocked yet another bullet workout last Sunday at Santa Anita Park. He returns as the 3/5 morning line favorite for Saturday's Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap at Belmont Park. (Image: Zoe Metz Photography)

Flightline Plus Speaker’s Corner Equals a Memorable Met Mile

When Flavien Prat hopped off Flightline last December, after he had just dismantled the Grade 1 Malibu Stakes by 11 1/2 lengths, the veteran jockey had what could be described as a religious experience. As any jockey can tell you when they’ve ridden a superhorse, the words sometimes don’t come […]

Jack Christopher puts in a workout before Saturday's Grade 1 Woody Stephens at Belmont Park. The one-time Kentucky Derby hopeful is the 1/2 favorite to remain undefeated. (Image: Coglianese Photos/Susie Raisher)

Jack Christopher Ready for More Undercard Magic in Woody Stephens

The Jack Christopher Comeback Tour makes its next stop at the Grade 1 Woody Stephens, setting down once again on a Triple Crown undercard race. The seven-furlong Woody Stephens will be one of the eight Grade 1s on Saturday’s Belmont Stakes undercard. It’s not to be confused with the Grade […]

Emmanuel's last victory came in this allowance optional-claimer at Tampa Bay Downs three starts ago in January. He makes his turf debut in Saturday's Grade 2 Pennine Ridge at Belmont Park. (Image: SV Photography)

Former Derby Prospect Emmanuel Ready for His Turf Close-Up

One week before several of his former Triple Crown trail rivals tackle the “Test of the Champion:” the Belmont Stakes, Emmanuel tackles his first turf test in Saturday’s Grade 2 Pennine Ridge at Belmont Park. The 1 1/8-mile trek along Belmont Park’s inner turf course serves as a key prep […]

Snapper Sinclair is one of three contenders in teh Cross Country Pick 5s lone stakes race this week: Belmont Park's Elusive Quality. (Image: Grace Clark/Kentucky Downs)

With One Stakes, this Cross Country Pick 5 Puts Handicappers to the Test

A million-dollar gelding and one of the first stakes races on Belmont Park’s Spring/Summer Meet provide two of the storylines for this week’s New York Racing Association Cross Country Pick 5. The weekly, multi-track, multi-race wager comes from Belmont Park and Oaklawn Park this week. While it’s light on stakes […]

Pizza Bianca, seen here winning the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, returns for her 3-year-old season Sunday in Aqueduct's Memory of Silver. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Bobby Flay Delivers Pizza Bianca to Aqueduct’s Memories of Silver

Even with celebrity chef Bobby Flay as an owner, Pizza Bianca doesn’t have the highest profile for a Breeders’ Cup winner. But, the winner of last year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf remains formidable in Sunday’s Memories of Silver on Aqueduct’s closing day. Pizza Bianca’s low profile has nothing to […]

Summer at Saratoga features 77 stakes races worth $22.6 million over 40 days. (Image: Chelsea Durand)

Saratoga Offers Up 19 Grade 1 Stakes, Increased $22.6 Million Purse

Along with a purse boost of $1.1 million from 2021, the New York Racing Association announced Saratoga Race Course’s 2022 stakes schedule Tuesday. The schedule features 77 stakes spread over the 40-day meet, where horsemen and women will race for $22.6 million in purses. Headlining that stakes schedule as always is the […]

Dean's List stretches out from six furlongs to a mile at 7/2 on the morning line in the Grade 3 Gotham Saturday at Aqueduct. (Image: Coglianese Photos/Ryan Thompson)

Will Baffert, Pletcher Or Someone Else Take Over Gotham?

Yes, the Grade 3 Gotham Stakes is a Kentucky Derby prep, which means your eyes naturally gravitate to whatever colt Bob Baffert has in the proceedings. And Derby ban aside, the Hall of Fame trainer does come to Aqueduct with a gilt-edged contender in Rockefeller. But this being the Gotham […]

NYRA plans restoring the historic Wilson Chute to Saratoga this summer. That will allow dirt races like this one to run over a mile on the main track. (Image: NYRA/Coglianese Photo)

NYRA Bringing Back Historic Wilson Chute to Saratoga Race Course

The New York Racing Association (announced plans to return the Wilson Chute, one of Saratoga Race Course’s historic racing landmarks for the 2022 summer meet. Restoration of the Wilson Chute will allow the NYRA to write one-mile dirt races on Saratoga’s main track. The Wilson Chute hasn’t been used since […]