Belmont Park is the Premier Track in North America

[taxicab]

Originally Posted by biggestal99

Horsemen did not support the keeneland spring meet nor did bettors.

Field sizes and handle were wayyyyyyy down.

Allan

So true.
This one really surprised me,Synthetic Keenland was perhaps the best meet(s)of the year.
Dirt Keenland fell behind Saratoga/Belmont/Del Mar/Gulfstream.
I never saw it coming.

[thespaah]

Originally Posted by pele polo

The Coaching Club American Oaks was 1 1/2 miles not long ago, then shortened to 1 1/4 miles and then most recently 9f.

I find it very odd that Saratoga has 2 G1 dirt races for fillies and mares at the classic distance but not a single one for older horses.

THe Saratoga meet has always been a showcase for younger horses...
BTW, The Whitney is at 9f....Not a classic distance(10f I presume is considered 'classic') but a classic event none the less.
The Alabama for 3yo fillies is 10f....That's the only 'classic distance race' for fillies at the meet.
Belmont has the JCGC for older horses.
The Spring Summer meet has the Brooklyn at 12f for 3 and up....As well as the Suburban at 10f for 3 and up....
Save for turf stakes, most other tracks do not contest any graded events past 9f....

[thespaah]

Originally Posted by Bigadam119

Weren't both the Coaching Club American Oaks and the Woodward at Belmont before?

Yes..The CCAO was part of what once was called the Triple Tiara...
The Acorn at a mile. The Mother Goose at 1 1/8th and the CCAO at 1 1/2 miles
The Woodward once at 1 1/4 miles was the first of the Belmont Fall Triple Classic( I think it was 'classic') Then the Marlboro Cup at 1 1/8th miles then the JCGC which up until the mid 90's was at 12 f then shortened to 10f
When the anti tobacco nazis at the federal level decided tobacco companies could no longer sponsor sporting events, the Marlboro Cup was cancelled and the NYRA Mile added to AQU's fall schedule.
The Woodward was moved to the last week of the Saratoga meet a few years ago. It is now a prep for the Breeders Cup....
At this point everything from mid August onward is a prep for the BC......
Edit.....I took a peek at the history of the Woodward. The distance of this race has bounced around quite a bit.
It's been a 9f event for some time now.
In fact Easy Goer won it in 1989 at 10f...The last year the Woodward was contested at that distance.