Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Familar feel at spring-summer meet with big change to come
ELMONT, N.Y. – While there has been a lot of talk about the future of Belmont Park, horsemen, horseplayers, and fans will be unable to distinguish the present from the past when the track opens its 54-day springsummer meeting Friday.
A massive redevelopment of parts of the Belmont property is in the works. Last December, a group representing the New York Islanders won conditional rights to build an arena for that NHL club behind the west end of the grandstand. The project also calls for 435,000 square feet of retail space and a hotel to be built on what has been described as 36 acres of underutilized property at the track.
Construction of that project is expected to begin in May 2019 with completion scheduled for fall 2021. At the same time, the New York Racing Association is planning a renovation of the existing grandstand and paddock area, though detailed plans of that project have not yet been released.
But all of that is for another day. Friday, when the meet opens with a nine-race card (first post 1:30 p.m. Eastern), everything will look virtually the same as before at the mammoth facility. Racing runs through July 15.
NYRA officials have implemented a few incentives to try and grow field size, particularly in dirt races. Last spring, average field size in dirt races was 6.94 horses per race, compared to 8.80 on turf.
A loyalty program that began April 6 is designed to reward the connections of horses who start frequently at NYRA tracks. Additional purse money becomes available to horses once they reach their fifth start at a NYRA track. The program, which began April 6 at Aqueduct, runs through next April 1.
“I guess in theory someone towards the end of Belmont could have made a fifth start,” said Martin Panza, senior vice president of racing operations for NYRA. “Certainly, if you run once at Aqueduct and two or three times at Belmont it sets you up at Saratoga to be in a bonus situation. That program is obviously just starting; we’ll see how it does. It rewards people that run. At the end of the day, that’s good for owners. You don’t make any money if the horse is sitting in the barn.”
Another inaugural program is in place for horsemen whose stables number 20 horses or fewer and participate in claiming races. A total of $80,000 will be disbursed to those qualifying horsemen who accrue the most points during the Belmont meet.
NYRA also tried to lure horsemen from Oaklawn Park to run at Belmont with a onetime 30 percent purse bonus plus $1,500 in shipping money per horse. Trainer Robertino Diodoro is likely the only trainer to take full advantage of that.
Turf racing remains a point of emphasis at Belmont, as those races typically draw larger fields. Last year, there were 234 turf races run with 45 transferred to dirt due to inclement weather. The previous spring meet, there were 247 turf races run with 22 taken off the turf. Not surprisingly, field size at the 2017 spring-summer meet was 7.80 horses per races, down from 7.92 in 2016.
For the third straight year, NYRA will bump up the purse of non-stakes races run at 1 1/4 miles or farther to $90,000. While applicable for both dirt and turf races, this has primarily been a turf bonus program. There were 17 such races run at the 2017 spring-summer meet.
A bonus for New York-bred 2-year-olds is also available again, with $25,000 in money split up to the owners-trainers of a New York-bred who finishes in the money in a 2-year-old race at the meet.
As usual, Belmont offers a robust stakes schedule, with 62 stakes worth $19.3 million being offered.
The meet highlight, as always, is the Belmont Stakes Day program (June 9) topped by the $1.5 million Belmont Stakes, the third and final leg of the Triple Crown. The 13-race card includes six Grade 1 stakes and 10 stakes overall.
The Stars and Stripes card on July 7 includes the $1.2 million Belmont Derby and $1 million Belmont Oaks for 3 year-olds and 3-year-old fillies, respectively, on turf, as well as three other stakes.
This spring, NYRA has bolstered the May 12 program to try and create another big day. The card is anchored by the Grade 1 Man o’ War, at 1 3/8 miles on turf, which had its purse increased to $700,000 from $400,000. The Peter Pan, the local prep for the Belmont Stakes, had its purse increased to $350,000 from $200,000. The Grade 3 Beaugay, Grade 3 Vagrancy, and the Runhappy Stakes will also be run that day.
First post on most days will be 1:30 p.m., with exceptions made during Belmont Stakes week. Beginning June 1 (but excluding June 8), first post on Fridays will be 3 p.m. through the end of the meet.