Firenze Fire to run in Withers

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – The day after Firenze Fire won the $150,000 Jerome Stakes at Aqueduct, trainer Jason Servis said he most likely would wait until the Grade 3 Gotham Stakes on March 10 to run the horse again.

He did leave the door slightly ajar for the Grade 3 Withers pending how the horse came out of the Jerome.

Well, Firenze Fire apparently came out of the Jerome so well that on Friday, Servis confirmed that he would indeed run in next Saturday’s $250,000 Withers Stakes at Aqueduct.

“I knew the Withers was probably not going to be as tough as the Gotham,” Servis said by phone from Florida. “We’re feeling really good about it now.”

The Withers will be Firenze Fire’s first start at 1 1/8 miles. Firenze Fire is 4 for 6, with all four wins coming in races run around one turn, including the Grade 1 Champagne at a mile.

“One thing’s for sure, he’s not going to be short coming back that close off a mile race,” Servis said. “If he doesn’t get it, maybe he doesn’t get it.”

Servis said Irad Ortiz Jr., who rode the horse in the Champagne, will be reunited with Firenze Fire in the Withers. Ortiz was supposed to ride Firenze Fire in the Jerome when it was originally scheduled for Jan. 1. But Ortiz had commitments elsewhere when it was rescheduled for Jan. 13 due to weather.

Others pointing to the Withers include Avery Island, California Night, Coltandmississippi, Factor This, and Marconi. Crea’s Bklyn Law is possible. Trainer Dale Romans may send a horse up from Florida.

The Withers, a race Servis won in 2016 with Sunny Ridge, offers 17 qualifying points (10-4-2-1) to its top four finishers toward the May 5 Kentucky Derby.

Racing secretary ruled off

Matt Salvato, who last fall was promoted to racing secretary at the New York Racing Association, has been ruled off the grounds at the three NYRA tracks, the company said Friday.

Though no reason was given, NYRA spokesman Pat McKenna said Salvato has “been trespassed from NYRA properties as of Jan. 25. As it is a personnel matter, we won’t be commenting any further.”

Salvato, reached Thursday after he was escorted out of Aqueduct by security, said he was “suspended” indefinitely. Salvato, citing an ongoing investigation, declined to comment further.

Salvato, a native of Farmingdale, N.Y., joined NYRA in 2008 after graduating from Adelphi University with a degree in sports management. He was an assistant racing secretary before taking over as racing secretary with the opening of the Aqueduct fall meet Nov. 3. Salvato replaced Dan Eidson, who in December moved back to Southern California to become racing director at Santa Anita.

Salvato did work in the racing office during the time period when the New York State Gaming Commission and NYRA investigated a situation where two racing officials were accused of accepting bribes for providing confidential information from the track’s InCompass system.

Jose Morales Jr., at the time an entry clerk for NYRA, was accused of providing the confidential information via email from April to June 2014 to one or more persons. Information from InCompass included entry sheets of past performances for horses entered in particular races before entries closed.

Morales, along with Stephen Foster, a NYRA clocker and placing judge, and Mike Gonzalez, a jockey agent who at the time worked for Manny Franco, also were ruled off the grounds. Foster and Gonzalez were both fined and suspended 10 years by the gaming commission.

Morales’s case is still pending. He did appear at a hearing before the gaming commission last month.

It is not clear if this action taken against Salvato by NYRA is related to the InCompass situation. A spokesperson for the gaming commission would neither confirm nor deny that the investigation is ongoing.

Belmont quarantine lifted

A quarantine placed on Barn 44 at Belmont Park due to a case of the equine herpesvirus was lifted Friday after the horse in question tested negative for the virus this week.

Linda Rice trains most of the horses in that barn, and trainer David Duggan has six. Those horses will be permitted to enter races and may now train with the general horse population. For the last two weeks – including Friday – horses in that barn had to train after regular training hours.

On Jan. 9, an unraced 3-yearold trained by Rice tested positive for EHV-1. The horse, placed in isolation at a different Belmont barn, tested positive again Jan. 17. A test taken last Wednesday came back negative. That horse will remain in isolation for the next several days.

The quarantine prevented Rice from running several horses, including Do Share in last weekend’s Fire Plug Stakes at Laurel Park. Rice also kept Do Share out of Saturday’s Toboggan Stakes because she had grown tired of entering and then having to scratch horses. Rice said Do Share may now point to the General George at Laurel Park on Feb. 17.

NYRA partners on FOX show

As a result of a partnership between FOX Sports, the New York Racing Association and The Stronach Group, there will be broadcasts of major stakes – mainly Kentucky Derby prep races – on Fox Sports 2 over a period of six Saturdays in February and March, it was announced Friday.

“FOX Sports Saturday At the Races” will have six shows ranging in length from two hours to 3 1/2 hours. The series starts Feb. 3 and includes the Holy Bull from Gulfstream and the Withers from Aqueduct. Additional shows will air Feb. 10, March 3, 10, 24 and culminate with a 3 1/2-hour broadcast of the Florida Derby card from Gulfstream on March 31.

There will be a pick four wager that will link selected races from multiple tracks featured on those six shows.