Migliore leaving NYRA post

ELMONT, N.Y. – Citing a desire to find a better balance between his personal and professional lives, former jockey Richard Migliore announced Friday that he is leaving his post as racing analyst with the New York Racing Association.

Migliore’s last day at NYRA will be July 8, the day of the five-stakes Stars and Stripes program at Belmont Park.

Migliore, the Eclipse Awardwinning apprentice rider of 1981 and a winner of 4,450 races, retired from race riding in June 2010 as a result of injuries sustained in a spill in January of that year. He went to work for HRTV before joining NYRA in 2011. In recent years, working with a team that included Andy Serling and Maggie Wolfendale, Migliore provided prerace observations of horses on NYRA’s simulcast presentation and had become an integral part of NYRA’s recent expansion in the television market with daily live shows from Belmont Park and Saratoga.

“I am very proud of my contributions to TV at NYRA and collectively what we all did as a group,” Migliore said. “We took it to another level, and I’m appreciative to have been a part of that.”

Several years ago, Migliore bought a farm in Millbrook, N.Y., about 90 miles north of Belmont, where he lives with his wife and four children.

“I just want to find a better balance to still work in the industry and spend more time at home and not have to drive 200 miles,” Migliore said Friday. “I love where I live, but lately it seems like I’m only there to sleep.”

Migliore said he still wants to work in the racing industry, but perhaps not on a full-time basis. He has recently done some work for Fasig-Tipton in the auctioneer stand at sales, providing descriptions of pedigree and accomplishments of horses in the walking ring.

“I’m going to sit back and see what transpires the next few weeks,” Migliore said. “I’ve done some public and motivational-type of speaking as well. If I can find something where I can be home more often and travel less, that would be ideal.”

In a press release, NYRA president and chief executive Chris Kay said: “I’d like to thank Richie for all his years of dedicated service to NYRA and horse racing. In addition to his obvious talents on the racetrack and in front of the camera, Richie worked to introduce new owners to the game and educate apprentice jockeys to make them safer riders.”

Migliore is the second television personality to leave NYRA this year. In January, Jason Blewitt was fired as studio host of NYRA’s simulcast show and has since gone to work at Gulfstream Park.

Dandy of a rematch

Kentucky Derby winner Always Dreaming and Preakness winner Cloud Computing are expected to meet again in the Grade 2, $600,000 Jim Dandy Stakes at Saratoga on July 29.

Trainer Todd Pletcher said the goal for Always Dreaming is the $1.25 million Travers at Saratoga on Aug. 26, and he believes the best way to get to the Travers is via the Jim Dandy as opposed to the Grade 1, $1 million Haskell at Monmouth on July 30. Starting in 2005, seven of the last 13 Travers winners prepped in the Jim Dandy. Both of Pletcher’s Travers winners, Flower Alley (2005) and Stay Thirsty (2011), won the Jim Dandy.

“Most likely, the Jim Dandy would be our first target,” Pletcher said.

Pletcher said that Always Dreaming could return to the work tab next weekend.

“I thought he was pretty tired after the Preakness, and it’s taken him a little while to come back to himself,” Pletcher said. “He’s coming that way. We’ll most likely gallop him for another week and then start getting him into a breeze program.”

Meanwhile, trainer Chad Brown has mentioned the Jim Dandy as the next objective for Preakness winner Cloud Computing.

Cloud Computing was expected to have his first work since the Preakness this weekend.

Pletcher said Belmont Stakes winner Tapwrit is also likely to run in the Jim Dandy or Haskell.

“Initial thoughts are he’s come out of the Belmont really well, full of himself, and should be looking for a race around that same time,” Pletcher said. “Hopefully, that’s a decision we’ll have to make.”

Spa next for I Still Miss You

I Still Miss You, the New York-bred filly who has won both of her starts, including the Astoria Stakes here June 8, most likely will make her next start in the Grade 3, $150,000 Schuylerville on July 21, opening day of Saratoga.

I Still Miss You is eligible for the $100,000 Lynbrook Stakes on July 16, closing day of the Belmont meet, but trainer Jeremiah Englehart said, “The numbers came back, and she improved a lot from her first start to her second start, so I’m in favor of giving her the extra time.”

I Still Miss You, a daughter of Majestic Warrior owned by a partnership led by Gold Star Racing Stable, won her debut against statebreds at Belmont by 3 1/2 lengths on May 11 with a Beyer Speed Figure of 63. She came back four weeks later to win the Astoria against open company by 2 1/4 lengths and earned a Beyer of 75.

“I liked the way she fought off every challenge,” Englehart said. “Even galloping out, none of the horses were able to get by her.”