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Welcome to On The Lead, the monthly newsletter of The New York Racing Association. We will keep you tuned in to all of the ongoing excitement at Aqueduct, Belmont Park, and Saratoga Race Course.
In each issue, we will update you on important news and look ahead to the featured promotions, events, and stakes races for the coming month. You will read fun and enlightening interviews with our trainers and jockeys and receive the latest information about our NYRA Rewards program. And as an added bonus, you can download eye-popping wallpaper and watch thrilling race replays!
On The Lead is your one-stop communication to catch up on the action at the NYRA tracks. We hope you enjoy this issue!
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 Don't miss out on the Aqueduct Stocking Stuffer Promotion, scheduled for Saturday, December 6 and Sunday, December 7. With a $1 donation that will go to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center in Jamaica, NY, fans will receive a giveaway item of their choice from a selection of remaining 2008 Belmont Park and Saratoga giveaway items, including hats, t-shirts, cooler bags, and much more! It's a great chance to get an early start on holiday gift ideas for your family and friends. There is a limit of six stocking stuffers per person.
 The New York Racing Association is pleased to join the U.S. Marine Corps for the annual Toys for Tots campaign at Aqueduct Race Track on Saturday, December 6. Everyone who comes to Aqueduct that day is encouraged to bring a new, unwrapped toy that the Toys for Tots program will give to a child in desperate need of happiness and hope during the Holiday Season. The toys will be collected on the 1st Floor Clubhouse near the escalators.
 It's a FREE for all for the entirety of the upcoming Aqueduct meet. When fans come to Aqueduct, they will find several pricing changes in effect. Aqueduct clubhouse admission will be free, a savings of $1.00. The free policy will extend to the popular Skyline Club level, which formerly cost an additional $1.00 or a total of $2.00 to enter. General parking will also be free, while the $5.00 fee for both clubhouse parking and valet parking represents no net change over last season.
 Aqueduct Racetrack offers dark day simulcasts on Mondays and Tuesdays. Fans will be able to bet at Aqueduct’s second-floor simulcast center, and mutuel clerks, self-service terminals and concession stand service will be available. There is no charge for admission or general parking at Aqueduct for either live racing days (Wednesdays through Sundays) or simulcast-only days. Parking and admission gates will open at 11:30 a.m., with the final simulcast race going off at approximately 6:30 p.m. NYRA Rewards members can also wager seven days a week by phone, online and now through mobile devices such as BlackBerry's, iPhones, and Windows- and Java-based applications. There will be no live racing during the Aqueduct Holiday Break from Monday, December 15 - Thursday, December 25. However, Aqueduct will be open for Holiday Simulcasting from Monday, December 15 - Tuesday, December 23.
 Get into the game with the Pick the Pros and Ponies contest every Sunday during the NFL season. Not only can you watch all of the NFL games each week, you can also participate in a contest to win $1,000. All you have to do is select the winners of four designated NFL games and two designated Aqueduct races. Call (718) 641-4700 for more information about the Pick the Pros and Ponies contest.
 NYRA Nation, the official fan club of The New York Racing Association, is off to a strong start! Joining NYRA Nation is completely free, and members will receive an official member card, a custom lapel pin (on-track sign-ups only), and gain access to many exclusive benefits, including automatic entry into random draws to win a VIP Day at the Races, NYRA Gift Packages, and much more. Sign up for free at the NYRA Nation entry page or in person at the track.
 Your Event...Our Venue...Imagine the Possibilities! The NYRA Group Sales team has a brand new website, located at www.nyragroupsales.com. The site features cutting edge graphics and has all the information you need to make your next group outing a tremendous success. Visit the site right now to get great information on bringing a group of any size to Aqueduct, Belmont Park, or Saratoga.
 The New York Racing Association is proud to be part of the new Global Shoes exhibit at the Long Island Children's Museum. The exhibit explores the everyday world of shoes to introduce children and families to people and places around the world. The bilingual exhibit also features a local component, Neighborhood Soles, displaying shoes associated with Long Island people and professions. Included among those are a horseshoe worn by 2003 Kentucky Derby winner Funny Cide (currently stabled at Belmont Park), and Hall of Fame jockey Edgar Prado's riding boots. Global Shoes will run through January 4, 2009. For additional information, contact 516-224-5800 or visit www.licm.org. |
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 In addition to bringing the Holiday cheer, December is a month featuring lots of exciting stakes action at Aqueduct Racetrack. The top competition gets underway on Saturday, December 6 with the Garland of Roses Handicap for fillies and mares going six furlongs on the dirt. It will be a real dash for cash! Then on Sunday, December 7, the New York-bred juveniles get their chance to shine in the East View, for fillies, and the Damon Runyan, open to all 2-year-olds. Both races will be run at 1-1/16 mile on the dirt. Giant Moon won last year’s running of the Damon Runyan, giving trainer Richard Schosberg a contender on the Kentucky Derby trail!
 The second weekend in December includes a tremendous graded test for all 3-year-olds & up on Saturday, December 13. $100,000 will be up for grabs in the Queens County Handicap (GIII) going 1-3/16 miles on the dirt. The recently retired Aqueduct fan-favorite Evening Attire won this race in both 2001 and 2007, an astonishing feat!
 The stakes action continues on Sunday, December 14 with the Ladies Handicap going 1-1/4 mile on the dirt. Stamina will be at a premium in this grueling test! Recent winners have included classy fillies such as Wow Me Free (2007), Critical Eye (2002), and Summer Colony (2001).
There will be an eleven day holiday racing break at Aqueduct from Monday, December 15 through Thursday, December 25. When racing returns, it will be with a bang with the $100,000 Gravesend Handicap (GIII) on Saturday, December 27. The race, run at six furlongs on the dirt for 3-year-olds & up, has seen an honor roll that includes GI winner Bishop Court Hill (2006) and Breeders’ Cup placed Shake You Down (2003).
 The final two stakes of the 2008 NYRA racing season are the Alex M. Robb Handicap on Sunday, December 28 and the Gallant Fox Handicap on New Year’s Eve, Wednesday, December 31. Both races are for 3-year-olds & up on the dirt, with the Alex M. Robb for New York-breds at 1-1/16 mile and the Gallant Fox run at 1-5/8 miles. The popular Naughty New Yorker won the most recent two renditions of the Alex M. Robb.
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 Get up close and personal with the NYRA Jockey Colony! NYRA.com now features Jockey Video Cards. Find out why Alan Garcia loves riding in New York, what Rajiv Maragh's favorite pastime is, what Johnny V's idea of a perfect vacation is, and much, much more. The Jockey Video Card Website will be constantly updated with new faces among the NYRA Jockey Colony.
 NYRA is now on Facebook and MySpace! The pages enable users of those two websites to interact with other NYRA fans, stay updated on NYRA events, view NYRA racing photos, and much more. With more than 60 million users, Facebook’s fastest-growing demographic is those 25 years and older, while MySpace remains the largest social networking site in North America with 110 million monthly users, 85 percent of whom are over the age of 18. Click here to access the NYRA Facebook page, and click here to access the NYRA MySpace page.
 Be sure to check out NYRA Video, the official Youtube channel of The New York Racing Association. This groundbreaking website will host a slew of informative and entertaining NYRA programming, including Trips & Traps, a weekly recap show hosted by Andy Serling and Eric Donovan. The show will highlight races from the prior week that feature interesting horses to watch out for in the coming months.Questions, comments, and suggestions about the show are encouraged, and can be emailed to trips&traps@nyrainc.com. NYRA's Youtube channel also hosts the innovative Jockey Video Cards.
 Help us create a new and enhanced NYRA.com by taking this short and straightforward customer survey! We want to know what are the most important components you would like to see in a new website, from an online search option, to archived news articles, to a cutting edge new look. Our fans are very important to us, and we want you to be part of this very exciting process!
 NYRA welcomed two new female jockeys to the track for the opening of the Aqueduct Fall Racing Meet. Maylan Studart, a 19-year-old apprentice from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, who arrived in New York late last month with a ton of ambition, got everyone’s attention when she sent 51-1 Decorated Court up the rail to win the seventh race on opening day at the Big A. Wednesday, October 29. Then on Wednesday, November 5 at Aqueduct, after 32 career starts in the New York circuit, 21-year-old apprentice Jackie Davis earned her first career victory on Blue Hill Bay, capturing a 1 1/16-mile claiming race on the turf by three-quarters of a length at odds of 65-1. Davis is the daughter of retired jockey Robbie Davis. Jockey Video Cards for both of Aqueduct's new fillies will be posted in early December.
 Given the risks inherent in Thoroughbred racing, NYRA has put into place two programs designed to ensure the best care possible when a jockey is injured: Incompass Solutions’ Jockey Health Information System and NYRA’s own Jockey Medical Advocate Program. Click here to read more about these important initiatives.
 Jerry McClenin, a 51-year-old printing press operator from Staten Island, N.Y., claimed the $35,000 grand prize in the Aqueduct Fall Handicapping Challenge. He defeated 206 contestants from 16 different states and three different countries en route to the victory. Along with the second and third place finishers, McClenin will be on the three-member Aqueduct Racetrack team in the 2009 NTRA/Daily Racing Form National Handicapping Championship (NHC), to be held this coming January 23-24 at the Red Rock Casino, Resort, and Spa in Las Vegas. Click here to see the results of the Aqueduct Fall Handicapping Challenge.
The New York Racing Association hosted Evening Attire Day on Saturday, October 25 at Belmont Park. Highlighting the day was the great grey's appearance on track and a winner's circle presentation for his connections. Among the special presentation was a book written by his many fans, who were asked to submit their favorite Evening Attire memory. These heartwarming entries can be viewed here. Evening Attire enjoyed tremendous success at Aqueduct Racetrack, and won nearly $3 million in 69 lifetime starts. While trainer Pat Kelly ranks his Evening Attire's Jockey Club Gold Cup victory and his upset of War Cry as his favorite races, the grey gelding’s fans were just as delighted with his improbable victory in the Grade 3 Queens County Handicap at Aqueduct last December.
 In order to offer an enhanced wagering menu, Rolling Daily Doubles and additional Superfecta opportunities are available during the Aqueduct Fall Meeting. Superfectas are offered on NYRA races without entries or fields that have at least eight betting interests carded, or seven if a late scratch occurs from paddock to post. |
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 Each month we’ll take a trip to the backstretch and visit with a different jockey or trainer. For this issue, the focus is on Richard Migliore, one of the most respected jockeys in the history of the sport. The 44-year-old Brooklyn, N.Y., native has won more than 4,300 races during his career, spanning nearly 30 years. Migliore experienced the moment of a lifetime this year when he won his first Breeders’ Cup race on Desert Code in the Turf Sprint. He led all jockeys in wins during the 2005 Aqueduct Winter meet, and this year he won the George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award in a nationwide vote of his peers.
Migliore lives in Garden City, N.Y., with his wife Carmela, their sons Joseph, 17, Philip Salvatore, 14, and Luciano, 11, and their daughter, Gabrielle Rose, 7.
Q: Do you remember your first win?
My first win came October 24, 1980, at the Meadowlands on a horse named Good Grip, who I was riding for Stephen DiMauro. The horse in front of me actually had the race won, but the jockey misjudged the finish line and Good Grip got up for a narrow victory. Then I came back to win the next race as well. It was a thrilling day.
Q: You’ve been nicknamed “The Mig,” by your fans and peers. Aside from the obvious tie-in with your last name, how did you come to be known as this?
There was a jockey valet in Atlantic City who started calling me the Mig Fighter and the Mig just became what everyone knew me as. [Legendary handicapper] Harvey Pack used to say, “If you don’t have a fig, you bet on the Mig.”
Q: Your first Grade One win came in the 1984 Meadowlands Cup on Wild Again, who went on to win the inaugural Breeders’ Cup Classic. Describe that race and that horse.
The whole day was rather interesting. Believe it or not, Wild Again actually needed a rider for that race. My agent contacted the trainer and asked him to consider me for the horse. On the Sunday before the Meadowlands Cup (which was on Monday), I won three races. Wild Again’s connections saw those wins and decided to put me on the horse. I was scheduled to ride on Monday at Belmont, and the Meadowlands Cup was in the late afternoon, so they actually flew me from Belmont to the Meadowlands on a helicopter. Keep in mind that up to this point I had never even seen Wild Again.
When I met with Wild Again’s trainer, he told me two things: He should not be on the lead, and he reacts positively to the whip. When the gates opened, no one went for the lead, and I could tell that Wild Again wanted to go for it. Because of the trainer’s comments, I fought with him for a while. Eventually, however, I let him go to the lead, and he relaxed immediately. Then turning for home I asked him to run without the whip and he took off. We were way out in front of the pack. However, I remembered that the trainer said I should use the whip, so I hit him with the whip once and he stopped running! The trainer was wrong on both of his instructions. What I had to do was switch the whip to my left hand and start hitting the rail in order to keep him going. But it worked, and I won my first Grade One race aboard a future Breeders’ Cup Classic champion.
Q: You have said that the 1997 Go For Wand was one of your most memorable victories aboard Hidden Lake. What stood out to you about this race?
She was a mare that I had won two big graded races on at Belmont in the spring, the Shuvee and the Hempstead. Going into the Go For Wand at Saratoga she was the big 3/5 favorite. Hidden Lake was much better when she ran off the pace and had a horse in front of her to target. However, there was no speed in the race at all. So when she broke first out of the gate I took her to the lead. At the half-mile pole she was working much harder than I would have liked. Another filly, Flat Fleet Feet, engaged me and we really went at it, trading the lead back and forth. Going into the final sixteenth, Flat Fleet Feet grabbed the lead by a half-length and I wasn’t sure that my filly would be able to battle back.
However, from the recesses of her heart, Hidden Lake found a way to fight back and win. After the finish line she actually collapsed from exhaustion. That was how much effort she put into winning that race. She was running on empty and found more to give, and that is what sets the thoroughbred apart from other athletes. They have a desire and will that few people can understand, and I feel honored to be a part of that. Hidden Lake went on to win the Grade One Beldame at Belmont Park in her next race.
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 Mobile Wagering is the new way to bet the races with NYRA Rewards! With NYRA Rewards Mobile Wagering, you can access account wagering essentials anytime and from anywhere. You can get entries, live odds, race results, and wager on the entire NYRA Rewards simulcast menu. Access is free and available to users of BlackBerry, iPhone, and Windows and Java-based devices. Members must be registered for NYRA Rewards Internet Wagering before using the mobile application. Click here for more information and for instructions. NYRA Rewards Mobile Wagering is specially designed for horseracing fans and as is Powered by SONA! Sona Mobile, Inc. is the leading provider of secure software solutions for gaming and entertainment applications.
With no minimum balance, no transaction fees, and cash back rewards, now is the time to sign up and start enjoying racing’s finest wagering platform offering unparalleled privileges! To learn more about NYRA Rewards, click here for a brochure. |
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 This month we are proud to bring you a special podcast with Charles Hayward, NYRA President and Chief Executive Officer. We sat down to chat with him about the future of NYRA now that the lengthy franchise dispute has been resolved, in addition to many other pertinent industry topics. Click here to listen to the podcast.
 It's a double attraction for this month's featured computer wallpaper and race replay. Tale of Ekati is the main attraction, as he was named the winner of the Hill 'n' Dale Cigar Mile (GI) when Harlem Rocker was disqualified and placed second for interference during the stretch run. Trained by Barclay Tagg, this small but swift 3-year-old colt won two of the three Grade I races at Aqueduct in 2008, also capturing the Wood Memorial (GI) in April. He joins a prestigious list of Hill 'n' Dale Cigar Mile winners that includes Congaree, Discreet Cat, and most recently, Daaher. The race has a reputation for producing some of the top stallions that our industry has to offer. It's a 2-for-1 this month though, as you can also download wallpaper and watch the replay from Old Fashioned's dominating victory in the Remsen Stakes (GII). This undefeated Larry Jones-trained 2-year-old son of Unbridled's Song crushed the Remsen by seven widening lengths. Watch out for him on the 2009 Triple Crown Trail! | |  |
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