Belmont Park

Pending relevant licensing, Scott Jordan will take over the post of head starter at the New York Racing Association (NYRA) tracks beginning May 23, the organization announced Monday afternoon. With more than 20 years of experience in the position and a tenure at Churchill Downs which began in 2006, Jordan has also worked roles at Keeneland, Ellis Park, and Kentucky Downs. In addition to managing NYRA's team of assistant starters and starting gate operations at Aqueduct, Belmont Park, and Saratoga, he will also work with trainers and riders to aide...

Amo Racing's Hill Road (Quality Road) may have earned himself a tilt at the June 7 GI Belmont Stakes with his win in the GIII Peter Pan Stakes at Aqueduct Saturday. "He bounced out of the Peter Pan in good shape," trainer Chad Brown said Sunday. "Hopefully once we get him back under tack and he's healthy and good, we will go onto the Belmont." A debut winner at Leopardstown last August, Hill Road was third behind champion Citizen Bull (Into Mischief) in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Del...

Trainer Jimmy Jerkens, a long-time New York based trainer before embarking on a two-year stint in Saudi Arabia, will oversee a fledgling New York-based string for Kenny McPeek, according to the Kentucky-based conditioner who announced the collaboration on X Sunday afternoon. "Jimmy Jerkens is going to be anchoring a New York division for me, starting this week," confirmed McPeek. He explained, "I am based in Kentucky, and I have family here and my history has been with yearlings, working yearling sales, I have been fortunate enough to build my racing...

Prominent owner Michael Dubb, founder and chairman of the Belmont Child Care Association (BCCA) and member of the Board of Directors of the New York Racing Association (NYRA), has been recognized by the New York Islanders with the 2025 Charles B. Wang Community Service Award. The New York Islanders, a professional ice hockey team, honored Dubb at the UBS Arena at Belmont Park Thursday evening. In addition to the award, which recognizes leaders within the Metro New York community who have made a profound impact on the lives of individuals,...

This past weekend we were three weeks out from America's most historic and important horse race, and all was quiet on the GI Kentucky Derby front. Too quiet, in fact. Compared to pro and college team sports, which have expanded their wild-card and play-in formats to capitalize on the immediacy of games with win-or-go-home playoff berths on the line, the lead-up to the Derby has silently shifted in the opposite direction. Instead of maximizing the relevancy of making the final cut as the sport's main event nears, racing rolls out...

by Jim Reisler, Edited Press Release Courtesy of NYRA For Laurie Scott of the Great Strides Equestrian Foundation, the biggest impact of escorting a group of teenage students to Saratoga Race Course as part of the New York Racing Associations, Inc. (NYRA)'s Leg Up! program, didn't happen on the day of their visit. The impact came days later when Scott realized the students were still buzzing about the races and meeting people from across NYRA--and most of all, about the range of job opportunities in horse racing. "What really hit...

It's not at all unusual for the New York Times to publish anti-horse racing pieces, something it has done dozens of times. But in Friday's edition, the Times held nothing back in what was arguably its most negative story yet. In a scathing 4,600-word guest essay written by Noah Shachtman entitled "Dead Athletes. Empty Stands. Why Are We Paying Billions to Keep This Sport Alive?," the author's main conclusion is that governments should not be propping up a dying business in horse racing, whether that is through revenues from casinos...

Multiple stakes winner Scorching (Mo Town), aiming for his graded stakes debut in the Mar. 1 GIII Gotham Stakes, worked five furlongs in 1:04.22 (5/7) over the dirt training track at Belmont Park Saturday for trainer John Charalambous. It was the fourth local work for the Ontario-bred colt, who is stabled in the barn of trainer Michael Miceli. "He went by himself, and he breezed well," Charalambous said. "The track was slow. Sahin Civaci was supposed to breeze him, but he's hurt, so we called an audible and put one...

A New York Racing Association (NYRA) executive confirmed on Friday that the massive-scaled, $455-million rebuild of Belmont Park is on schedule for its planned grand opening in the fall of 2026. Glen Kozak, NYRA's senior vice president of operations and capital projects, provided a construction update during the Jan. 31 meeting of the New York State Franchise Oversight Board (FOB), which is the governor-appointed entity that represents the interests of New York State in the real estate at Aqueduct Racetrack, Belmont Park and Saratoga Race Course. "At this point 95...

As relief for all the talk of impending track closures, take a look inside my crystal ball for a glimpse of what racing could look like in New York, Maryland and Florida three years from now... Imagine the year is 2028. A newly reconstructed Belmont Park, thanks to a massive $455 million capital infusion, has secured the future of racing in New York for another half-century. The last time Belmont underwent wholesale reconstruction was in 1968, when Nelson Rockefeller was governor. Belmont's new grandstand, designed by stadium architect Populous in...

A New York Appellate Court has dismissed a complaint from two New York State taxpayers, Jannette Patterson and John Di Leonardo, who sought on behalf of PETA to prevent the state from loaning NYRA the $455 million it plans to use to rebuild Belmont Park. The court, the New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Third Judicial Department, was ruling on an appeal from the plaintiffs whose complaint was dismissed by an Albany County court in October of 2023. With the filing of the original lawsuit PETA said, in a...

Beginning in January 2027, the prize money on offer for all New York-bred overnight races on the New York Racing Association (NYRA) circuit will equal that which is available to their open-company counterparts, officials at NYRA said on Monday. As was announced in 2023, beginning in January 2026, all New York-bred overnight races for 2-year-olds will offer equal purse money. In 2024, NYRA staged 548 races restricted to New York-breds for total purses of $42,817,000, and the new program is expected to raise New York-bred overnight purses by 15% versus...