Saratoga Race Course

Season passes for the upcoming Saratoga Race Course summer meet will go on sale Wednesday at NYRA.com/Saratoga. Available for $75 through the end of May, a season pass provides fans with admission for all 40 days of the Saratoga meet, including the Aug. 26 Travers Day card, at the equivalent of less than $2 per day. Without a season pass, Travers Day advance general admission is $25. Starting June 1, season passes will be available for $85 and beginning July 1 for $95. The summer meet will open July 13...

The main takeaway from Wednesday's meeting of the New York State Franchise Oversight Board is that the Saratoga Race Course and Belmont Park of today will look quite different by the end of 2024, with the bulk of the meeting spent outlining a series of proposed and ongoing capital improvement projects, which the board approved. Arguably the news of most significance is planned installation of a new one-mile synthetic track to the inside of Belmont Park's inner turf course. This synthetic surface--the specific material of which is currently unknown--will serve...

For the first time, the 2023 Saratoga Race Course meet will have one admission price for all fans, with the daily admission rate--$7 when purchased 24 hours in advance and $10 day of--providing fans with access to both the track's Clubhouse and Grandstand. Since 2019, daily Clubhouse admission has stood at $10 and Grandstand admission at $7. The 2023 Saratoga meet opens July 13, with live racing Wednesday through Sunday through Sept. 5. Season admission passes will go on sale in April and daily admissions go on sale June 1...

In an effort to fight a 90-day suspension and $5,000 fine for "striking a horse excessively" during a 2021 workout at Saratoga Race Course, trainer Orlando Noda has commenced proceedings in Schenectady Supreme Court that he hopes will prove the New York State Gaming Commission (NYSGC) acted unlawfully last month when it rejected an appeal hearing officer's recommendation that his case be dismissed without penalization. Noda's legal filing is known as an Article 78 review, which pertains to a New York state law by which a petitioner can ask a...

Three key events will highlight the Horse Racing Women's Summit for 2023. The second annual edition will take place at Santa Anita Park during the final week of September next year, coinciding with the opening of the Autumn Meet which culminates with the 40th Breeders' Cup on Nov. 3 and 4. Prior to that, the Horse Racing Women's Summit community will have the opportunity to participate in two events on the East Coast, starting with a HRWS Meet Up at Gulfstream Park on January 27, followed by a HRWS Series...

The Belmont Child Care Association, Inc. (BCCA) annually hosts a Holiday Shopping Day for all of the families of backstretch workers at Belmont Park and Aqueduct Race Track. This year, BCCA held its event on Saturday, Dec. 3 in the clubhouse at Belmont Park. The Belmont Cafe was transformed into a Winter Wonderland which included a Sugar Plum Cafe and Holiday Shop. Thanks to the New York Racing Association (NYRA), BCCA was provided with a beautiful venue to host its event and NYRA's facilities and security departments provided much needed...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY-With a five-word quip, New York Racing Association president and CEO Dave O'Rourke provided plenty of context about the record-setting 154th season of racing in Saratoga. "It didn't rain much, huh?" O'Rourke said. Indeed. Though the 40-day meet concluded Monday on cool, dark, sodden afternoon where jackets and umbrellas were needed, almost all of the programs at Saratoga Race Course were run on tracks listed as "fast" and "firm." When the final grass race of the closing day card was moved to the main track, it was just...

While retaining announcing duties at Belmont Park, John Imbriale will retire as the full-time announcer at the New York Racing Association at the end of 2022, the organization announced Sunday. Frank Mirahmadi will take over the race calling duties at Saratoga Race Course and Chris Griffin will become the primary track announcer at Aqueduct Racetrack beginning in 2023. Imbriale's 43-year tenure with NYRA dates to 1979 when he won a New York Daily News contest, which gave him the opportunity to call a race and work with the NYRA press...

In a field which included three Grade I winners, it was first-time stakes starter Goodnight Olive (Ghostzapper) who came away with the victory--and an automatic berth in the GI Breeders' Cup F/M Sprint--in the GI Ballerina S. at Saratoga Sunday. Sent off at 5-1, the dark bay filly was hustled out of the gate before settling into third as Travel Column (Frosted) assumed command through a quarter in :22.09. Goodnight Olive rushed up to press the pacestter after a half in :44.50 and powered past that rival at midstretch before...

It was a relatively quiet Thursday last week when jockey John Velazquez registered his 1,000th victory at Saratoga, extending his record as the winningest jockey in Spa history. Sifting through the archives to get a feel for what was going on in the sport when Johnny V. won his first career race at Saratoga back on Aug. 5, 1990, yields a heady mix of nostalgia tinged with kismet. Although not considered a truly "historic" day of racing at the Spa, there are enough intriguing nuggets buried within the charts and...

The New York State Gaming Commission (NYSGC) advanced a Thoroughbred claiming rules proposal Monday that would address the voiding of claims and ineligible potential claimants, establish procedures for resolving challenges to claims, and outline a specific procedure for horse custody if the stewards discover a claimant had been ineligible. The proposal passed by unanimous voice vote with no discussion or debate among commissioners. The full text of the amended rules will now be published in the New York State Register. After a public commentary period, the NYSGC will reconvene to...

Perhaps no trainer felt the loss of Arlington Park more keenly than Chad Brown, who had dominated the historic track's signature Arlington Million Day card for the past decade, but the multiple Eclipse Award winner will have a pair of runners as he tries to keep the momentum going at the relocated--and truncated--Million card at Churchill Downs Saturday. Currently leading North American trainers with 10 Grade I wins on the year, Brown will be in search of a record-extending fifth victory in the Million when he sends out recent GIII...