New York Racing Association

Handle for the opening four-day week of the Saratoga meet soared to more than $90 million, easily besting the corresponding 2020 and 2019 numbers. The New York Racing Association added a day to the previous three-day opening week Saratoga schedule in 2019. The exact handle total for the 41-race week was $90,112,254, an increase of 12.18% from last year's number of $80,325,660, which was affected by the lack of spectators at Saratoga due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It also represents an increase of 22.7% from the $73,441,101 total in 2019....

Edited Press Release The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) and the New York State Gaming Commission (NYSGC) have placed Barn 86 at Saratoga Race Course under a precautionary quarantine until further notice due to a positive case of Equine Herpesvirus-1 in that barn. The unnamed, unraced filly, who is trained by Jorge Abreu, was sent to Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital on Sunday, July 11 after developing a fever. She was subsequently tested for a number of potential ailments, and a positive test for EHV-1 was returned on Thursday...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Once again, Saratoga opens its world-renowned race meet with the question: How many? During the COVID-19 summer of 2020, the issue was whether there might be some loosening on the ban on spectators during the 40-day season. That never happened, though a limited number of owners were allowed to see their horses run, and some of the world's best Thoroughbreds played to a oh-so quiet empty house at America's oldest race track. With restrictions completely lifted in New York State in time for the 153rd season,...

The New York Racing Association will unveil the new Carmen M. Barrera Horsemen's Lounge Thursday at Saratoga Race Course. Formerly known as the Saratoga Room, the horsemen's lounge has been renovated and renamed to honor the memory of Carmen M. Barrera, NYRA's longtime director of horsemen's relations who died unexpectedly Aug. 8, 2019. "NYRA and New York's racing community at large owe Carmen a debt of gratitude for her decades of service to our sport," said Martin Panza, NYRA Senior Vice President of Racing Operations. "That she will now have...

The New York Racing Association will honor Capital Region frontline workers for their dedication and service to the community throughout the Covid-19 pandemic during Health Care Heroes and First Responders Day, presented by CDPHP, at Saratoga Race Course Friday. The day will feature free grandstand admission for all health care professionals and first responders with proper identification and races will be dedicated to doctors, nurses, nurse practitioners, physician assistants and vaccine site workers, as well as local police officers, firefighters, EMTs and paramedics. NYRA also announced its Hometown Hero program,...

Chad Brown won 32 races to capture his sixth consecutive trainer's title at the Belmont spring/summer meet, which opened Apr. 22 and concluded Sunday. His win total was five more than second-place finisher Christophe Clement. Rob Atras was third with 19 wins, while Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher and Mike Maker each finished with 18 victories. "It takes a lot of good horses, loyal and patient owners and, of course, the team," Brown said. "This meet wasn't easy. We had a bad virus run through the barn and that really...

The 11-race Stars and Stripes Day card at Belmont Park Saturday generated $21,535,076 in all-sources handle. The card featured the $1-million GI Belmont Derby and the $700,000 GI Belmont Oaks. The Derby and Oaks kicked off the New York Racing Association's Turf Triple series which will continue in the males division with the Aug. 7 $1-million GI Saratoga Derby Invitational and on the distaff side with the Aug. 8 Saratoga Oaks. Saturday's Belmont card, which also included the GIII Victory Ride S., attracted an on-track crowd of 3,574 and on-track...

It was another week when the Bob Baffert-NYRA saga again dominated the headlines, with both sides killing a lot of trees with their voluminous and seemingly never ending legal filings. At times it was mind numbing, and the laymen among us are having a hard time discerning what is important, what is not, whether or not there are any precedents to consider and which side appears to be winning a fight that grows more acrimonious by the day. After Medina Spirit (Protonico) tested positive for betamethasone in the GI Kentucky...

The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA), New York Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association (NYTHA), and New York Thoroughbred Breeders (NYTB) will host the inaugural New York Thoroughbred Aftercare Day at Saratoga Wednesday, July 21. The featured race will be the Rick Violette S., named for the late NYTHA President who spearheaded the creation of the TAKE2 Second Career Thoroughbred Program and TAKE THE LEAD Retirement Program, and was a founding member of the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance (TAA). "We're proud to carry on Rick Violette's work in promoting and protecting our equine...

Harvey Pack, the engagingly witty curmudgeon who entertained and informed decades of racetrack fans in New York and beyond as a popular radio, television and handicapping seminar host, has died at 94. Pack's death was confirmed by the New York Racing Association (NYRA), which employed him from 1974 to 1998. Daily Racing Form reported the cause was complications from cancer. Pack made a lasting impression as a self-deprecating "wiseguy's wiseguy" who passionately advocated for the underdog while never running out of strange-but-true racetrack tales and anecdotes, many of which involved...

The New York Racing Association will invite racing fans to continue a summer tradition during Breakfast at Saratoga, driven by the Capital District Transportation Authority (CDTA), back after a 2020 hiatus forced by COVID-19. Breakfast at Saratoga welcomes guests for morning meal on The Porch of the Clubhouse at Saratoga Race Course while the Thoroughbreds train on the main track. Breakfast is held daily from 7 to 9:30 a.m. and is available on a first-come, first-served basis; reservations are not accepted. There is no breakfast on Runhappy Travers Day, Saturday,...

The New York Racing Association (NYRA) on Tuesday gave notice to a federal judge that it intends to file a formal motion to dismiss trainer Bob Baffert's civil complaint, which seeks to overturn NYRA's ban against him. On May 17, NYRA informed the Hall of Fame trainer with the highly-publicized string of recent equine drug positives that he was temporarily not welcome to stable or race at the association's three tracks, Saratoga Race Course, Belmont Park and Aqueduct Racetrack. That ban, NYRA said at the time, would be re-evaluated once...