New York-breds

The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) released its 2026 racing schedule Thursday, a calendar which includes 196 live race days spread across Aqueduct Racetrack, Saratoga Race Course and the new Belmont Park. Additionally, NYRA has reached a multi-year agreement with the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association (NYTHA) and New York Thoroughbred Breeders, Inc. (NYTB) designed to provide racing participants with additional certainty regarding racing opportunities and underscores NYRA's commitment to year-round racing during the transition to a re-imagined Belmont Park. Accordingly, NYRA has established the foundation of a 2027...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY - The buzz from last week's select sale clearly carried into the new week, with the Fasig-Tipton New York-Bred Yearlings Sale powering through its opening session Sunday night in Saratoga. During the session, 64 yearlings grossed $8,338,000 for an average of $130,281 and a median of $105,000. Those figures were well ahead of last year's opening session, when 66 head sold for $6,860,000 for an average of $103,939 and a median of $89,000. They were also ahead of last year's cumulative average of $104,178 and median of...

Fasig-Tipton has catalogued 304 entries for the New York Bred Yearlings Sale, to be held Sunday and Monday, Aug. 10 and 11, in the Humphrey S. Finney Pavilion in Saratoga Springs, New York, the company said via a release on Friday morning. The Sunday session will begin at 7 p.m. ET., and the Monday session will begin at noon. "The New York Bred Yearlings sale annually offers the highest concentration of quality New York-breds of any Thoroughbred auction," said Fasig-Tipton President Browning.  "It's the 'go-to' source for those looking to...

Voted on by the fans, the Down Broadway Retired Racehorse of the Year Award will be presented on New York Thoroughbred Aftercare Day at Saratoga Race Course on Thursday, July 17, the New York Horsemen's Association said in a Thursday release. Casting a ballot--one per person--is open to the public now through Thursday, June 26. Wristbands for each nominee will be given away on Aftercare Day so that fans can show their support, and the presentation of the award will be made in the Saratoga winner's circle after the first...

If the Kansas City Chiefs need any advice on achieving the historic three-peat come Super Bowl Sunday, they need only ask Dr. John Eaton who, in conjunction with First Row Partners and Team Hanley, achieved the milestone at last Thursday's Resolute Racing Eclipse Awards. As a co-owner of two-time champion sprinter Goodnight Olive (Ghostzapper) during her racing career (she sold to John Stewart's Resolute Racing for $6,000,000 at FTKNOV in 2023), Eaton was honored Thursday as the breeder of yet another champion sprinter when Straight No Chaser (Speightster) earned the...

Horse racing has a PR problem. Tina Bond has a possible solution. "It's to create a new narrative and to help elevate the sport," said Bond, president of the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association (NYTHA), and the mastermind behind The Heart of Horse Racing, a new campaign--one undergoing something of a soft launch--to cultivate new followers to the game by sharing the stories of those already in it. In the campaign's own words, "our mission is to win over the hearts and minds of a new generation of fans while...

The Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Fall Mixed Sale will welcome 315 broodmares and weanlings to the Humphrey S. Finney Sales Pavilion when it kicks off Tuesday for a single session beginning at 12 p.m. "It's as strong if not a stronger catalog than even what we had last year," said Fasig-Tipton President & CEO Boyd Browning, Jr. "The New York-bred program continues to be strong and in demand. What we saw over the summer with the New York-bred yearlings is that there is plenty of quality here and the buyers really respond...

After breaking his maiden impressively facing New York-breds at Aqueduct June 20, Mo Plex jumped right into stakes company and took the GIII Sanford Stakes in gate to wire fashion on opening weekend at Saratoga July 13. Coming in with the clear class advantage as the sole stakes winner in the field, the even-money favorite, used to setting the tempo, was outrun from the outside gate by In the Chase (Weekend Hideaway) and had to settle for an outside stalking trip while fanned out wide. Not able to save much...

Accelerating, looking to pick up where she left off in her statebred debut win at the Spa July 26, followed up with another winning effort, taking Sunday's Seeking The Ante Stakes at Saratoga. Bobbling out of the gate, Accelerating was hustled to the front, carving out an opening quarter in :22.69. Passing the quarter pole with Central to Success stuck on her outside hip, Accelerating was urged along and the New York-bred filly responded by drawing clear to a four-length victory over Carmen's Candy Jar. "We bobbled a little bit...

The anniversary is right around the corner, a gruesome tragedy that nobody who was at Saratoga that day will ever forget. It was among the darkest days in the long history of racing upstate. But nobody had it worse than trainer Melanie Giddings, who, in a fraction of second, saw Maple Leaf Mel (Cross Traffic) go from the sure winner of the GI Test Stakes to a horse who broke down inches before the wire and could not be saved. Her business is doing fine. She has 42 horses and...

Voted on by the fans, the first-ever Down Broadway Retired Racehorse of the Year Award will be presented on New York Thoroughbred Aftercare Day at Saratoga Race Course on Thursday, August 15, the New York Horsemen's Association said in a Wednesday release. Casting a ballot will be open to the public from July 17 through Aug. 8. Wristbands for each nominee will be given away on Aftercare Day so that fans can show their support, and the presentation of the award will be made in the Saratoga winner's circle after...

Fasig-Tipton has catalogued 300 entries for its New York Bred Yearlings sale, scheduled for Sunday and Monday, Aug. 11 and 12, in the Humphrey S. Finney Pavilion in Saratoga Springs, New York, the auction company said in a release early Friday. The Sunday session will begin at 7 p.m. ET, and the Monday session will begin at noon ET. "This sale annually showcases the best of the New York-bred yearling crop," said Fasig-Tipton President Boyd Browning.  "The New York-bred program grows stronger every year, and in 2024 over $65 million...