Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
FANS COULD BE BACK IN STANDS SOON,
ELMONT, N.Y. – A year ago at this time, New York was the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic with virtually all businesses at a standstill. New York racing was a month into a shutdown that had no definitive end date. Coming off the cancellation of the Aqueduct spring meet, no one knew when racing would resume and some horsemen wondered whether they might have to relocate.
“It was kind of a stressful situation,” trainer Rob Atras recalled. “Do we move to Churchill? Which horses do we take? Every day you were hoping things were going to turn around and we were going to be able to run. It didn’t work out that way.”
Belmont eventually was greenlighted to reopen in June. However, the Belmont meet was only 25 days long with reduced purses and no fans. Wagering was done remotely.
A year later, with racing have been conducted virtually uninterrupted over the last 10 months, there is a sense of normalcy as Belmont Park is about to open its 48-day spring/ summer meet on Thursday. Overnight purses have been raised to their highest levels, and at some point a limited number of fans will be permitted back ontrack.
“Hopefully, we’re putting the pandemic in our rear view in every aspect of our life, work being one of them,” trainer Chad Brown said. “’I’m certainly excited as are my clients and my staff. We’re looking forward to this meet.”
Fans have not been allowed to attend racing at NYRA tracks since early March 2020. That will change in the coming weeks. Gov. Andrew Cuomo said on April 15 that New York tracks can reopen at 20 percent capacity and following COVID-19 protocols beginning Friday. However, NYRA said it is still awaiting more guidance from the New York State Gaming Commission regarding those protocols and hopes to announce soon when fans may return.
Some areas where fans would congregate are no longer open. The Belmont Café and the mutuel bay area that serves it is the site of a COVID-19 vaccination center. Part of the second floor of the clubhouse, just behind the box seat area, is being turned into a horsemen’s lounge. Then there is the backyard, which lost a considerable amount of space due to the construction of a new hockey arena that this fall will be home to the NHL’s New York Islanders.
NYRA is expanding the Top of the Stretch picnic area. Currently, there are 10 picnic areas that will soon be expanded to 20.
The stakes schedule is again robust with 59 stakes worth $16.95 million being offered throughout the season. The $1.5 million Belmont Stakes, the third leg of the Triple Crown, will be held June 5 and tops a card with eight other stakes, six of which are Grade 1s.
Belmont Day is the culmination of the three-day Belmont Stakes Racing Festival, which includes three stakes on June 3 and five more on June 4.
Other big stakes days include May 8, with five stakes topped by the Grade 1 Man o’ War, and the July 10 card, with the $1 million Belmont Derby and $700,000 Belmont Oaks.
The large overnight purses are expected to attract some new horsemen to New York for this meet. Already on the grounds are Saffie Joseph Jr., Brittany Russell, and James Chapman. Expected to move horses here in the coming weeks are Robertino Diodoro, Peter Miller, and Vladimir Cerin.
“We’ve got a lot of new shooters coming in,” said Martin Panza, NYRA’s senior director of racing operations. “We’re calling people asking when they’re going to fill those stalls. As long as they honor their commitments, we should be okay.”
Panza said the ability to raise purses was due in part to the way NYRA budgeted purse money during the pandemic.
“Our Racing Committee did a very good job of managing purse levels and being conservative and trying to get us through the pandemic,” he said. “Coming out of it with purses at all-time record highs is a positive for the industry.”
The jockey colony will be the strongest in the country, headed by Irad Ortiz Jr. and his brother Jose. After wintering in Florida, the Ortiz brothers combined to win 41 of the 95 races run at the Aqueduct spring meet. Joel Rosario and Luis Saez will be here regularly after the Kentucky Derby. Others returning include Junior Alvarado, who had a strong winter in Florida, John Velazquez, and Javier Castellano. Jose Lezcano, who won the Belmont spring/summer title in 2019, is expected back from knee and shoulder surgery by May 1. Kendrick Carmouche and Eric Cancel will try to build on their winter success along with year-round regulars Manny Franco and Dylan Davis.
For the most part, racing will be conducted four days a week (Thursdays through Sundays) through July 11. First post will largely be at 1 p.m., though on Thursdays in May and June it will be 3:05 p.m. to allow for NYRA to work in races from Churchill Downs, which has a 5 p.m. Thursday post, on its popular “Day at the Races” television show.