The Belmont Stakes Card

[Cratos]

NYRA might not do many things right in the eyes of some horseplayers, but in the eyes of this horseplayer who has been around this game for nearly 4 decades NYRA puts on the best show with its Belmont Stakes Day card of any of the Triple Crown racetracks and this card will probably be better than the eventual Breeders’ Cup card.

Take a look at Saturday’s Belmont card and you probably will not see a better racing card the rest of the year.

NYRA opens the Belmont Stakes Day card with a $96k purse allowance race and closes it 12 races later with a $102k purse allowance race.

In between those two races they fill it with the following bettors’ delights:

The inaugural Brooklyn Invitational for older horses at 1 ½ miles on dirt to warm the bettors up for the big dance.

A solid sprint turf race in the form of the Jaipur Invitational.

The Woody Stephens on dirt at 7 furlongs pitting the likes of Havana against Social Inclusion (this should be a dandy).

The Ogden Phipps might be the best on the card with Beholder shipping in from California and being confronted by Princess of Sylmar.

Moving the Met Mile to Belmont day and increasing the purse appears to have brought out the best with the very good Curlin off-spring in the form of Palace Malice who will be up against a full field of 13 entrants if all go.

The Belmont Stakes race might not have any future hall-of-famers in it, but it is very competitive and it has a horse going for the elusive Triple Crown.

For those of us in attendance who will “rub elbows” and tear up losing tickets this might be the best racing day of the year.

[BlueChip@DRF]

Take a look at Saturday’s Belmont card and you probably will not see a better racing card the rest of the year.

Including the BC?

That Met Mile looks more like the feature than the Belmont.

[MutuelClerk]

Totally agree about the Met Mile. It's going to be an outstanding race.

[Tom]

Do this in the fall.
ALL the championship races, up the purses, the $5 mil JCGC, all the races with long histories that used to make up the fall championship series.

And put the BC to bed.

[depalma113]

The Belmont Stakes race might not have any future hall-of-famers in it, but it is very competitive and it has a horse going for the elusive Triple Crown.

A Chrome win is a guaranteed induction into the Hall of Fame.

[Cratos]

A Chrome win is a guaranteed induction into the Hall of Fame.

I agree and I don't think anyone would dispute that assertion.

[Redboard]

Do this in the fall.
ALL the championship races, up the purses, the $5 mil JCGC, all the races with long histories that used to make up the fall championship series.

And put the BC to bed.

Well Tom, I certainly hope you don’t watch the BCC this fall when California Chrome, Palace Malice, Goldencents, Close Hatches, god and MMM are going to square off. I hear NYRA is planning a exciting card of statebreds that weekend.

[Izzy2742]

Well Tom, I certainly hope you don’t watch the BCC this fall when California Chrome, Palace Malice, Goldencents, Close Hatches, god and MMM are going to square off. I hear NYRA is planning a exciting card of statebreds that weekend.
NYRA has been supportive of the BC, in part because they usually got their "turn" to host. As they have been snubbed for many years now, they may return their traditional "Championship" races (JCGC, Turf Classic, etc) to a late fall time slot, and the BC will just be another regional championship too.

It would be bad for racing, but I think last weekend proved they could do it if they wanted to.

[Rex Phinney]

NYRA has been supportive of the BC, in part because they usually got their "turn" to host. As they have been snubbed for many years now, they may return their traditional "Championship" races (JCGC, Turf Classic, etc) to a late fall time slot, and the BC will just be another regional championship too.

It would be bad for racing, but I think last weekend proved they could do it if they wanted to.

BC "just another regional Championship"?

What is the NYRA going todo, tell everyone to skip the BC and come to the JCGC instead?

Problem with what the NYRA did last weekend is that they killed all their other days, the Met Mile on it's own should be a good day, by combining it with other stakes you are killing the meet as a whole.

Last weekend didn't prove anything, if the NYRA is still doing it that way in 5 years then it will be proof it works. My guess is they won't.

As someone who has been to the Breeders Cup and was there last weekend, I can assure you that from a fan experience perspective, the NYRA isn't even the same galaxy as the Breeders Cup.

Of course if Belmont would spend even 1/10th of the money on their facility that Santa Anita has, then the Breeders Cup would just go there and we wouldn't have to even discuss it.