Latest news with #July4thRacingFestival
New York Post
10-07-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Post
Breaking down every facet of upcoming Saratoga meet
With the new Belmont Park grandstand under construction, New York racing fans have been left with the Aqueduct fall meet, the Aqueduct winter meet, the Aqueduct spring meet, the Belmont at the Big A summer meet, the Belmont at the Big A fall meet and the Finger Lakes at the Big A meet. OK, maybe not that last one, but you get the point. Sure, the Belmont Stakes was run upstate as well as the short and sweet July 4th Racing Festival, but now we get a full 40 days as the Saratoga summer meet commences. Big days Got your calendar ready? The Diana is this Saturday, July 12. The Coaching Club American Oaks and the Vanderbilt on July 19. The Jim Dandy is July 26. Four Grade 1 races on Saturday, August 2 including the Whitney and Fourstardave. The Sword Dancer is Aug. 9. The Alabama is on Aug. 16. There are five Grade 1 races on Travers Day on Aug. 23, including the Forego and the Personal Ensign. The Spinaway is on Aug. 30, the Jockey Club Gold Cup is on Aug. 31 and the Hopeful is on closing day, Labor Day, September 1. It's all about the horses While Preakness winner Journalism may run in the Haskell at Monmouth Park, he still may ship north to challenge arch rival Sovereignty in the Travers. Mindframe, Fierceness, Sierra Leone, White Abarrio and Skippylongstocking make this year's edition of the Whitney a must-see. 5 Sovereignty won the Belmont Stakes at Saratoga Race Course last month and is being pointed to run in the Travers Stakes on Aug. 23. Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images Thorpedo Anna, the 2024 Horse of the Year, was defeated by Raging Sea in May. Thorpedo Anna will attempt to turn the tables when they meet in the Personal Ensign. Trainers Two words. Chad Brown. He ran away (with a little help from his four-legged friends) with the 2024 meet. Brown saddled 45 winners and it was a long way back to Todd Pletcher and Mike Maker who dead-heated for second with 22 winners. While Linda Rice (18) and Bill Mott (15) rounded out the top five, it was Mark Casse who had the higher win percentage (28.3 percent). 5 Chad Brown, who had the most wins at Saratoga in 2024, will be the favorite to win the 2025 meet. Jason Szenes for New York Post Riders up! Irad Ortiz Jr. visited the winners circle 52 times last summer but it was Flavien Prat who set records for most stakes wins (18) and graded stakes wins (14) at a Saratoga meet. Expect Luis Saez, Junior Alvarado, Manny Franco and Dylan Davis to get their fair share of wins and Jose Ortiz may give his brother, Irad, a run for his money. One thing for sure. You will both love and curse every rider before the meet is over. 5 Jockey Flavien Prat had a dominant 2024 Saratoga meet in stakes races. AP On the turf Chad Brown is a smart bet on dirt. And an even safer bet on the grass. Of Brown's 45 winners last summer, 26 were on the lawn. That number was three times larger than the rest of the conditioners. Baby races First impressions are important and there will be plenty of 2-year-olds making their career debuts at Saratoga over the 40-day meet. A look back shows Chad Brown, yes him again, led last year's standings with 10 juvenile wins, but only one more than the nine that Mark Casse trained. Casse's Ewing, a son of Knicks Go, slam-dunked his debut on July 5, winning by a dozen lengths and may reappear in the Hopeful later in the meet. Might as well jump 5 There are a couple of traditional steeplechase races at this Saratoga meet. AP Steeplechase racing has long been a staple of the Saratoga meet. Stakes on this year's schedule include the A.P. Smithwick Memorial on July 23 and the Jonathan Sheppard Memorial on Aug. 20. Freebies Giveaway days this summer: July 11: T-shirt July 20: Hawaiian shirt July 25: Blanket Aug. 8: Pennant Aug. 22: Tote bag Aug. 31: Saratoga quarter zip sweatshirt The forecast Likely more losers than winners but hopefully the weather will cooperate this season more than it has the past two years. 2023 was bad. 2024 was worse. Not only did the 40-day meet shrink to 39, but 45 turf races were taken off the grass and moved to the dirt/slop. Rooting for my picks and Mother Nature as well. 5 Spectators had to battle the rain on Belmont Stakes Day at Saratoga Race Course on June 7, 2025. Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images Turn on the races Fox Sports offers exclusive coverage of all races from Saratoga. If you don't want to pick your own winners, Greg Wolf, Laffit Pincay, Andy Serling, Richard Migliore, Jonathon Kinchen, Maggie Wolfendale, Acacia Clement and Sara Elbadwi will do it for you. That's enough handicappers to field a softball team. Did I forget anyone? Oh yes, Paul Lo Duca will bat cleanup. Post time is 1:10 p.m. May all the photo finishes go your way.
New York Post
13-06-2025
- Sport
- New York Post
Why Saratoga will stay as host for the 2026 Belmont Stakes
Anyone who has ever had work done on their house knows deadlines are often fluid when it comes to renovations. That's why it should be no surprise that Saratoga Race Course will remain the host of the Belmont Stakes in 2026. The race will take place on Saturday, June 6, 2026, and, due to the configurations of the track in Saratoga, will be run at a mile and a quarter, rather than the traditional mile and a half. The original plan was to have Belmont Park up and running for next year's 'Test of the Champion,' but it will instead reopen in September 2026. The announcement, made Friday by Gov. Kathy Hochul and the New York Racing Association, explained that keeping the Belmont Stakes in Saratoga for one more year would allow for the on-time and uninterrupted construction of a new Belmont Park in Elmont, N.Y. 3 Sovereignty won the Belmont Stakes this year. Getty Images 'New York is home to world class sports and entertainment and this final chapter of the Belmont Stakes at Saratoga Race Course honors our rich racing heritage while paving the way for a bold, new future at Belmont Park,' Gov. Hochul said in a statement. 'Bringing the race back to Saratoga next year will once again expand the audience for this storied leg of the Triple Crown and ensure fans continue to enjoy the full experience.' 3 The field breaks from the starters gate at Saratoga Race Course. JASON SZENES/ NY POST Saratoga has hosted the last two iterations of the Belmont Stakes, won by Dornoch and Sovereignty. The annual Saratoga summer meet will get underway on Thursday, July 10, but the Race Course will also serve as the host of the July 4th Racing Festival, which is traditionally held at Belmont Park. 3 overeignty with jockey Junior Alvarado aboard celebrates as he crosses the finish line to win the 157th Running of the Belmont Stakes at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York, Saturday, June 7, 2025. JASON SZENES/ NY POST The four-day festival will run from Thursday, July 3, to Sunday, July 6. Hochul announced earlier this month that Belmont would host the 2027 Breeders' Cup.
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Saratoga Season Passes Now Available
Saratoga Season Passes Now Available originally appeared on Paulick Report. The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) has announced that Saratoga season admission passes for the special July 4th Racing Festival and 2025 summer meet at historic Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., are now available for purchase at more than 175 Stewart's Shops throughout the greater Capital Region. Just in time for Father's Day, Saratoga season passes provide fans with general admission access to 44 days of thoroughbred racing this summer for the equivalent of approximately two dollars per day. Season passes are available for $90 at Stewart's Shops through Sunday, July 13, or for $95 online at Advertisement Passes include admission to the traditional 40-day summer meet, July 10 to Sept. 1, in addition to the July 4th Racing Festival, July 3 to 6, which has been relocated to Saratoga while construction continues on a new Belmont Park. Saratoga season passes provide access to the apron and the Rivers Casino Backyard which includes hundreds of free picnic tables available on a first-come, first-served basis. Meanwhile, NYRA Bets Gift Cards are also available for purchase at Stewart's Shops and make great gifts for Father's Day and any other occasion. A NYRA Bets Gift Card comes pre-loaded with $50 in funds for betting online with NYRA Bets, with no markup fees. Held for the first time at Saratoga Race Course, the July 4th Racing Festival serves as a prelude to the traditional summer meet and concludes the Belmont at the Big A spring/summer meet. It will feature seven graded stakes among 10 overall stakes. Highlighted by the 156th renewal of the Grade 1, $1.25 million DraftKings Travers on Aug. 23 and the G1, $1 million Whitney on Aug. 2, the 40-day summer meet will offer 18 G1 races as part of 64 stakes worth more than $20 million in total purses. Following the four-day opening week, racing will be conducted five days a week, Wednesdays through Sundays, apart from closing week, when the 2025 summer meet will conclude on Labor Day. This story was originally reported by Paulick Report on Jun 11, 2025, where it first appeared.
Miami Herald
23-04-2025
- Business
- Miami Herald
NYRA Names Emerald Ecovations Its Preferred Sustainable Products Partner
HUNTINGTON, NEW YORK / ACCESS Newswire / April 23, 2025 / The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) today announced a multi-year agreement to position Emerald Ecovations as the preferred sustainable products partner of NYRA. "NYRA is committed to reducing its environmental footprint and maintaining its positive impact on our surrounding communities," said Kevin Quinn, NYRA's Vice President of Sales and Hospitality. "We are pleased to partner with Emerald Ecovations to work together on implementing staple products across our tracks that will assist with waste reduction." Emerald Ecovations, the leader in sustainable food service, facility, and packaging supplies, will provide a variety of sustainable food service products for use across Saratoga Race Course, including cups, bowls, containers, napkins, tissues, utensils and product dispensers. "We're excited to join NYRA on their mission to deliver sustainable products that enhance the guest experience and resonate with their stakeholders," said Ralph Bianculli, President/CEO of Emerald Ecovations."We are committed to working with sport and entertainment venues nationwide by supplying our Made in the USA sustainable disposables, measuring their environmental impact, and helping them communicate it to the local community." Designed and made in the United States, Emerald Ecovations offers a line of 350+ Tree-Free and Plastic-Free products to combat deforestation and plastic pollution, offering companies a sustainable solution to the growing demand for environmentally responsible products in disposable food packaging and everyday facilities products. Emerald Ecovations will also be branded on refuse containers across the backyard and grandstand areas at Saratoga Race Course and displayed throughout the property beginning in June during the five-day Belmont Stakes Racing Festival slated for June 4th-8th. Over the coming months, Emerald Ecovations will be prominent during the July 4th Racing Festival set for July 3-6 at the Spa, and with an educational onsite activation during the traditional 40-day Saratoga summer meet which spans from July 10th through September 1st. For more information on Saratoga Race Course, please visit About the New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) NYRA is a not-for-profit corporation franchised by New York State to conduct thoroughbred racing at Aqueduct Racetrack, Belmont Park and Saratoga Race Course. NYRA tracks are the cornerstone of New York State's horse racing economy, which is responsible for 19,000 jobs and more than $3 billion in annual statewide economic impact. NYRA is the parent company of NYRA Bets, LLC, the national advanced deposit wagering platform launched in 2016 and currently available to customers in 36 states. NYRA Bets provides bettors the opportunity to wager on tracks worldwide from anywhere at any time. The NYRA Bets app is available for download on iOS and Android at Contact Information Alex Viola Director of Marketing and Communicationsmarketing@ Pat McKenna Vice President of Communicationspmckenna@ SOURCE: Emerald Ecovations press release
