In case you were unaware there is a massive makeover going on at Belmont Park. So, last year New York Racing Association officials decided to stage the 2024 and 2025 editions of the Belmont Stakes at Saratoga Race Course, the oldest and most popular track in the country. NYRA has scheduled the Belmont Stakes Festival, which will feature 24 Stakes races with purses totaling $10.25 … Continue reading Belmont Stakes Festival @ Saratoga
Saturday, Aqueduct Park hosts its signature spring race and the terminus on the New York road to the Kentucky Derby. A field of thirteen 3-year-olds will do battle in the $750,000 dollar, Grade 2 Wood Memorial at 1 1/8 miles on the main track A total of 200 Kentucky Derby qualifying points are on the line, with the Winner receiving 100 points, and 50-25-15-10 going to the 2nd-place through … Continue reading The Winner Of The Wood Is..?
The 99th edition of the Grade 2, $750,000 dollar Wood Memorial at Aqueduct Park is this Saturday, April 6th. The race remains a prominent stop on the Road to the Kentucky Derby, offering 100-50-25-15-10 qualifying points to the top five finishers. The Winner will automatically earn enough points to be eligible to enter into the Kentucky Derby. Inaugurated in 1925, the Wood Memorial (G2) has long been an important … Continue reading The Wood Memorial
Saratoga Race Course will now add to its storied history by hosting the third leg of the Triple Crown on Saturday, June 8th. Today New York Governor Kathy Hochul made it official that the 2024 G1 Belmont Stakes will be held for the first time at Saratoga and be run at 1 1/4 miles. Moving the final jewel in racings Triple Crown allows for the … Continue reading Belmont Stakes @ Saratoga
The Sleepy Hollow Stakes was the 8th race at Belmont@Aqueduct this past Sunday. For the second year in a row a Linda Rice trained colt Won this race. This year it was EL GRANDE O, ridden by Jose Ortiz, who (as usual) kept his head in the race. But why Sleepy Hollow Stakes? Stakes races are usually named after horses, trainers, or other legendary horse people- not small towns on the Hudson. … Continue reading The Headless Horseman
New York racing relocates back downstate to its temporary Autumn home at Aqueduct Park as the renovation project at Belmont continues. The 2023 Belmont at the Big A race meet is ready to commence on September 14th. The traditional Belmont Park fall meet, filled with big purses and loaded with important races, will once again be held at Aqueduct in 2023 for a 28-day season that will run four … Continue reading Belmont @ The Big A
PackHarvey Pack, a pioneer in the field of on-air racing personalities whose curmudgeonly personality and dry sense of humor made him a favorite among New York horseplayers. With the opening of Saratoga less than a week away, a tribute to Harvey seems appropriate. Mr. Pack passed away in July of 2021, he was 94. He was born and raised on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, and … Continue reading Mr. Harvey Pack
The Grade 2, $750,000 dollar Wood Memorial is Saturday at Aqueduct. The 1 1/8-mile race attracted a field of thirteen 3-year-olds who will compete for the 100-40-30-20-10 points that go to the top five eligible finishers. Here is a look at that field. 1. DREAMLIKE [ML 7-2] Trainer: Todd Pletcher. Jockey: Jose Ortiz. Was a $975,000 yearling purchase who did not make his first start until … Continue reading Who Delivers The Wood ?
For the most part, the $750,000 dollar, Grade 2 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct has been a predictable race on the road to the Kentucky Derby. Case in point, 11 of the last 12 Winners have started at single-digit odds, including nine who offered odds less than 9-2. One reason why the Wood Memorial is so predictable is that it tends to be Won by similar horses … Continue reading Wood Winning Angles
The New York State road to the 2023 Kentucky Derby reaches its terminus Saturday. Aqueduct Park will host the Empire State’s premier Kentucky Derby prep race- the $750,000 dollar Grade 2 Wood Memorial Stakes. The race is contested at 1 ⅛ miles on the main track at the Queens facility. The Wood was a Grade 1 from 1973 to 1994, and again from 2002 to 2016. There … Continue reading The Wood Memorial
