New York Racing Association

Nominations are now open for the 2024 Thoroughbred Industry Employee Awards. The nomination period concludes July 15. The awards, sponsored by Godolphin, in association with The Jockey Club, the National Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association, the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association, and the Breeders' Cup, offers cash prizes totaling $122,000 to be presented to winners and two finalists in a total of seven categories, as well as monetary awards going to two runners-up. The awards are the Dr. J. David "Doc" Richardson Community Award, Katherine McKee Administration Award, Dedication to...

For what appears to have been nothing more than a minor clerical error, the New York Gaming Commission and its head steward Braulio Baeza, Jr. has fined NYRA Racing Secretary Keith Doleshel $2,000 for "failing to conduct business in a professional manner." Doleshel has appealed the decision and has the backing of NYRA management. Under Baeza, the Gaming Commission has been quick to fine NYRA employees for what can be argued are nothing more than honest and inadvertent mistakes. Among those who have been sanctioned with fines are clocker Richard...

FOX Sports will be the television home for Monmouth Park's 2024 racing season, which opens May 11 under a new partnership announced Monday by the New Jersey track and the New York Racing Association. In addition to the expansion in television coverage, NYRA Bets will become the title sponsor of the $1-million GI Haskell S. and the Pegasus S. Monmouth's signature race, the NYRA Bets Haskell S. will be run July 20. The NYRA Bets Pegasus S., the traditional local prep for the Haskell, will be contested June 15. America's...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - While most of the racing world was focused on the 150th GI Kentucky Derby run last Saturday at Churchill Downs, the final stop on the Triple Crown series--the 156th GI Belmont S., some six weeks hence on June 8--is already at the top of the charts for plenty of people in this horse-centric upstate city. In order to accommodate the massive makeover of Belmont Park, New York Racing Association officials decided last year to stage the 2024 and 2025 runnings of the Belmont S. at Saratoga...

Rivers Casino & Resort Schenectady will be the official casino partner of Saratoga Race Course and the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival and will be the presenting sponsor of the $750,000 GI New York S., in a partnership announced by the New York Racing Association Tuesday. The New York Presented by Rivers Casino will headline day two of the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival June 7 and NYRA has increased the purse of the race $150,000. Rivers Casino will also become the presenting sponsor of The Backyard at Saratoga Race Course. The...

Manny Franco rode the winners of 28 races to claim the leading jockey title during the 16-day spring meet at Aqueduct which concluded Sunday. The 29-year-old native of Carolina, Puerto Rico earned a repeat win and his third overall title at the meet after capturing last year's Big A spring title with 37 wins and the 2019 title with 18 wins. "It feels great to be back on top," said Franco, who is represented by agent John Panagot. "I'm just grateful and happy to be in this position. I want...

Twenty-five local nonprofit organizations will be provided with reserved picnic tables for each day of the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival at Saratoga June 6-9, the New York Racing Association announced Tuesday. The nonprofits primarily comprise those with the mission to deliver human services and provide direct assistance to individuals experiencing food insecurity, financial hardship, homelessness and mental and physical disability. Organizations were also selected for their support of veterans, families and children, and promotion of the arts. "NYRA is pleased to recognize the important role that nonprofit organizations play in...

Anthony Stabile has been named track announcer at Finger Lakes Gaming and Racetrack. Stabile will become just the third announcer in Finger Lakes history when the upstate New York track opens for its 63rd season of Thoroughbred racing Apr. 29. "Since I was a young kid, I've wanted to be a racetrack announcer and am proud to say my first full-time position will be at Finger Lakes," Stabile said. "I'm looking forward to being a part of a place that is rich in racing tradition, where one of my favorites,...

The Big 3 Pick 3, a new wager encompassing the GII Wood Memorial, GI Toyota Blue Grass S, and GI Santa Anita Derby, will be available to bettors this Saturday, the New York Racing Association, Keeneland, and 1/ST announced jointly Monday. The Big 3 Pick 3, which will be hosted by Aqueduct, will be offered with a $3 minimum and mandatory payout. The Big 3 Pick 3 will appear as a separate wager/track on wagering machines or online account: Big 3 Pick 3. All three races are contested at nine...

Linda Rice continued to assert her dominance on the New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) circuit when capturing the Aqueduct Racetrack winter meet training title with 23 wins at the 45-day meeting which ran from Jan. 1 through Mar. 30. Rice has now won the training title at six of the last seven NYRA meetings, along with year-end honors last year as the circuit's top trainer with a record-tying 164 wins. She also came out on top at last year's Big A winter meet with 37 wins. "It's great," said...

The $150,000 G1 Beverly R. Steinman S., a 2 3/8-mile steeplechase event for older horses, will be held June 9 as part of the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival at Saratoga Race Course. The race is named for Beverly R. "Peggy" Steinman, who has successfully balanced decades of ownership in both the steeplechase and flat racing worlds with stars such as Dark  Equation, who captured the 2008 G1 New York Turf Writers Cup, and Colstar, a multiple graded stakes-winning filly who won more than $1 million on the flat. "The New...

Highlighted by the 155th GI Travers S. Aug. 24 and the GI Whitney S. Aug. 3, the 40-day Saratoga meet features 19 Grade I races as part of 71 stakes worth $20.75 million in total purses, the New York Racing Association said concerning the release of the schedule on Friday. Following the four-day opening week, which starts on Thursday July 11, racing will be conducted five days a week, Wednesdays through Sundays, apart from closing week, when the 2024 summer meet will conclude on Monday, Sept. 2. Saratoga Live, the...