Belmont makeover...

[Cholly]

might include synthetic track inside inner turf?

https://www.paulickreport.com/news/t...nthetic-track/

[dilanesp]

Originally Posted by Cholly

might include synthetic track inside inner turf?

https://www.paulickreport.com/news/t...nthetic-track/

Very good idea.

[ldiatone]

WHAT!!! no more "big sandy"

[Tom]

Big Chunky.

[Denny]

Relax people.

It's for Winter racing in the future. (After AQU is done away with)

It's also for rainy days when Turf racing is cancelled. (There will be fewer scratches)

[pandy]

Good idea, when it rains and there are a lot of turf races scheduled, the card is ruined. And Aqueduct's winter meet was strange this year. I thought the racing was much different than when they raced on the inner track. The winterized main track was very inconsistent.

[alhattab]

The timetable mentioned in the DRF piece was May 2019-2021 (ready for the 2021-2022 NHL season so figure September 2021). So, where does NYRA hold the 2020 and 2021 Belmont Stakes? Can't be at Aqueduct there isn't enough room. That leaves 2 possibilities, but only one reasonable choice. The first possibility is Monmouth Park, but there's no way that NY politicians allow the money out of state. That leaves Saratoga as the only other viable option. Can't run 1 1/2 miles at Saratoga and not sure they can even run at 1 3/8 miles, but I think they can do 1 5/8.

[dilanesp]

Originally Posted by alhattab

The timetable mentioned in the DRF piece was May 2019-2021 (ready for the 2021-2022 NHL season so figure September 2021). So, where does NYRA hold the 2020 and 2021 Belmont Stakes? Can't be at Aqueduct there isn't enough room. That leaves 2 possibilities, but only one reasonable choice. The first possibility is Monmouth Park, but there's no way that NY politicians allow the money out of state. That leaves Saratoga as the only other viable option. Can't run 1 1/2 miles at Saratoga and not sure they can even run at 1 3/8 miles, but I think they can do 1 5/8.

Saratoga can't host the Belmont. (Not because it is a 9f track though.)

I predict they just continue holding it at Belmont during the renovations. But if they needed to move, it would have to go to Churchill or Santa Anita.

[alhattab]

Originally Posted by dilanesp

Saratoga can't host the Belmont. (Not because it is a 9f track though.)

I predict they just continue holding it at Belmont during the renovations. But if they needed to move, it would have to go to Churchill or Santa Anita.

Because I size? Agree it wouldn't work especially if a TC on the line, but I believe many moons ago Saratoga used to use the infield so maybe that would be an option.

[dilanesp]

Originally Posted by alhattab

Because I size? Agree it wouldn't work especially if a TC on the line, but I believe many moons ago Saratoga used to use the infield so maybe that would be an option.

Yes, size. 50,000 is a very tight fit there. And only about 8,000 real seats, which isn't enough for all the VIP's.

[Cholly]

Wherever they run it while Belmont is down for reconstruction, maybe this is when they transition the Belmont Stakes to 10-furlongs, or another distance that is not such an anachronism as the current 12-furlongs?

I hoped the make-over would include accommodation for Belmont to run 9 & 10-furlong dirt races around two turns, better enabling Belmont to host important dirt races other than the Met Mile & Belmont Stakes. After Aqueduct is closed, how will they run the Wood at Belmont in its current dirt track configuration? Not sure anybody prepping for the Derby will be interested in a one-turn race.

[Tom]

I humbly offer FINGER LAKES to host the Belmont Stakes!
We have plenty of open fields all around the track for parking, and easy access to the NYS Thruway. Lots of NYRA trainers know the place well.

Can't see any problems......after all, Funny Cide concluded his career here, winning the Wadsworth, and Groovy set a track record here.

(The Beef on Weck is our best kept secret)

[alhattab]

Originally Posted by Tom

I humbly offer FINGER LAKES to host the Belmont Stakes!
We have plenty of open fields all around the track for parking, and easy access to the NYS Thruway. Lots of NYRA trainers know the place well.

Can't see any problems......after all, Funny Cide concluded his career here, winning the Wadsworth, and Groovy set a track record here.

(The Beef on Weck is our best kept secret)

Plenty of room for portable seating!

[Denny]

Hey, how about Meadowlands? Right across the river, through the tunnel, from NYC.

When Gural built the new band-box grandstand, he put it on the opposite side.

The old grandstand is still standing (in anticipation of a casino?). They'd have two grandstands to use simultaneously/concurrently! Make one for the elite - the other for the rest of us!

They used to host thoroughbreds back in the day for entire meets. Great horses ran there in the original Pegasus.

The turf course is still used every Fall for the Monmouth @ Meadowlands all-turf meet.

Maybe Gural would lease the place for the Belmont Stakes and they could put in a dirt cushion just for thoroughbreds for a short meet.

Manhattan is 15 minutes away. They could use that as a selling point for all the rich horse owners/breeders.

(Of course it is New Jersey and some in NY might thumb their noses at that).

[classhandicapper]

Originally Posted by Denny

Relax people.

It's for Winter racing in the future. (After AQU is done away with)

It's also for rainy days when Turf racing is cancelled. (There will be fewer scratches)

There are clear upsides to being able to switch turf races over to synth instead of dealing with all the scratches and off the turf races run on dirt, but for me it could add a new layer of complexity to evaluating turf horses because they will often have races on 3 surfaces in the PPs. It can already get confusing sometimes when you aren't sure if a horse went off form or didn't like the wet track. Now it will be worse.