 |
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!
|
|  | |
|
 | |
 |
 Please note that there will be live racing at Aqueduct on Presidents' Day, Monday, February 16. Celebrate the holiday with a great day of racing at the track. The card features the Hollie Hughes for 3-year-olds & up going six furlongs on the inner dirt track. Aqueduct will then be dark (but open for simulcasting) on Tuesday, February 17 and Wednesday, February 18.
 Enjoy a Valentine's Day Celebration at Aqueduct Racetrack on Saturday, February 14! NYRA will send your heart racing with a lovely lunch, charming music, and nine great races including the Dearly Precious. The event will take place in the luxurious Equestris Dining Room and will include musical entertainment by "Vincent the One-Man Band." In addition, one lucky couple will win a complimentary night stay at the brand new, state-of-the-art JFK Sheraton Hotel! The gourmet buffet will open at 12 noon. For reservations, please call 888.285.5961.
 The 2009 NYRA Calendar is now on sale at the online NYRA Store! This is a must-have item for any racing fan, with vivid action photos of 2008's best races, horses, jockeys, and much more. The calendar has brilliant images of Curlin, Commentator, Tale of Ekati, Colonel John, and Proud Spell, to name just some. All in all there are more than 50 photos in the calendar, along with the complete 2009 NYRA Stakes Schedule to help plan your trips to the track. You can order the calendar at the online NYRA Store for only $10!
 NYRA fans are in store for another fantastic year in 2009, chock full of all of the great racing action that they have come to expect. As always, highlights include the Met Mile, the Belmont Stakes, the prestigious Saratoga Meet, the Jockey Club Gold Cup, the Hill 'n' Dale Cigar Mile, and much, much more. Click here for a list of some of the top races and events that NYRA has planned for 2009!
 Learn more about many of the great trainers that have hung their tack in New York with On The Record, a series of candid interviews about what goes on behind-the-scenes at the racetrack. The first series of interviews feature inside looks at legends such as Billy Turner, who trained Seattle Slew to the 1977 Triple Crown, and Pat Kelly, who guided Evening Attire to become one of the most successful horses ever to race in New York. Visit the On The Record Website to watch the amazing pieces.
 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.
 Tune in to Trips & Traps, NYRA's groundbreaking online handicapping show! Join hosts Andy Serling and Eric Donovan for an insiders look at horses to watch or horses to watch out for. On this weekly show, Andy and Eric scrutinize replays of races to find horses that have a reason to perform much better in future races. You will learn how to better scrutinize replays for information that's not necessarily in the past performance charts.Trips & Traps is only available at NYRA's official Youtube site.
 It's a FREE for all for the entirety of the Aqueduct meet! When fans arive at Aqueduct, they will find several pricing changes in effect. Aqueduct clubhouse admission is free, a savings of $1.00. The free policy extends to the popular Skyline Club level, which formerly cost an additional $1.00 or a total of $2.00 to enter. General parking is also 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.
 Your Event...Our Venue...Imagine the Possibilities! The NYRA Group Sales team has a dedicated website, located at www.nyragroupsales.com. The site features cutting edge graphics and has all the information you need to make your next group or corporate 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 Triple Crown chase heats up this month at Aqueduct with the Whirlaway for 3-year-olds going 1-1/16 on the dirt. Set for Saturday, February 7, this race always draws a talented field of up-and-comers with their eyes set on the first Saturday in May and beyond. The most recent three Whirlaway winners were Barrier Reef (2008), Summer Doldrums (2007), and Achilles of Troy (2006).
 The following weekend features three exciting stakes and a Monday of special holiday racing. First up is a lover’s special with the Dearly Precious on Valentine’s Day, Saturday, February 14. This six furlong dirt sprint has been won by some very fast fillies, including the explosive Xtra Heat in 2001.
 Sunday, February 15 plays host to some of the fastest 3-year-olds around in the Fred “Cappy” Capossela, run at six furlongs on the dirt. This test of speed has an honor roll comprised of talented horses such as Go Go Shoot (2008) and Like Now (2006).
 Then get ready for some special Holiday racing on Presidents’ Day, Monday, February 16, as older New York-bred horses compete in the Hollie Hughes going six furlongs on the dirt. One of the best New York-bred sprinters ever, Papua, won this race three consecutive times from 2003 through 2005.
 Fillies & mares stride into action the following weekend with two stamina-testing races. The first is the Rare Treat on Saturday, February 21. This race, for all fillies & mares going 1-1/8 mile on the dirt, was won last year by Runway Rosie, hailing from Aqueduct’s winningest 2008 owner/trainer combo, Winning Move Stable and Gary Contessa.
 Sunday, February 22 will see the 3-year-fillies to stretch their legs on the dirt in the Busher going 1-1/16 mile. Last year’s running was won by Darley’s Little Belle, who went on to capture the Ashland (GI) at Keeneland. She also finished 2nd and 3rd in two big New York races, the Coaching Club American Oaks (GI) at Belmont, and the Alabama (GI) at Saratoga, respectively.
 The final February stakes race is the Stymie on Saturday the 28, for older horses running 1-1/8 mile on the dirt. The winner’s circle after this race has seen a number of very talented horses, including Malibu Moonshine (2008), and recently-retired fan favorite Evening Attire (2007).
| |  |
 |
 NYRA has unveiled the logo for the 141st running of the Belmont Stakes, the final leg of horse racing's prestigious Triple Crown. The 2009 Belmont Stakes logo features the New York skyline shaded by a stylized version of Belmont Park’s trademark white pine, the 186-year-old tree in the center of the Belmont Paddock. The race will be held Saturday, June 6, with ABC-TV and ESPN providing live coverage of the day’s events. It's now been more than 30 years since Affirmed swept the 1978 Triple Crown (Kentucky Derby, Preakness, Belmont Stakes), becoming the 11th horse to accomplish the feat. Since then, there have been eleven horses (most recently Big Brown last year) that won the Derby and Preakness before failing in the Belmont Stakes, illustrating why the race is nicknamed the "Test of the Champion." The 2009 Belmont Stakes logo was designed by Eric Johnston of Art Design Studios.
 NYRA has launched a brand new Community Relations website! This site will stay updated with all of the great events that NYRA is organizing and taking part in with the communities surrounding their racetracks. Some of the recent organizations and events that NYRA helped out with were Toys For Tots, the Manhassat Food Drive & Holiday Show, Jamaica Hospital, and the Muscular Dystrophy Association. Bookmark the NYRA Community Relations website to keep informed of all these important events.
 For the third consecutive year, a New York jockey joined the New York Jets, Giants, Islanders, Red Bulls and other teams at the annual “MDA Muscle Team,” a gala event at New York’s Chelsea Piers that raised nearly $1 million in support of the work of the Muscular Dystrophy Association. Jockey Maylan Studart, a 19-year-old apprentice rider from Brazil, represented the New York jockey colony, posing with some of the top names in New York sports and appearing on stage with her Muscle Team Buddies -- local children living with Muscular Dystrophy. Jockeys Edgar Prado, John Velazquez, Norberto Arroyo Jr., Javier Castellano and retired jockey Angel Cordero Jr. have all participated in past MDA Muscle Team events. Click here to learn more about the event.
 While the nation’s Thoroughbred racing industry as a whole slumped last year because of the economic downturn, The New York Racing Association saw only modest business declines. The all-sources handle on NYRA races from Aqueduct Racetrack, Belmont Park and Saratoga Race Course went from $2,543,796,141 in 2007 to $2,489,276,587 last year, a 2.1 percent decline, while the daily average wagering on NYRA races from all sources fell 3.7 percent, from $10,382,841 to $9,997,095. On the plus side, at a time when purse payouts dropped 1.3 percent nationwide, NYRA’s purses grew by 3.1 percent, from $117,814,278 to $121,414,236, with daily average purses rising 1.4 percent to $487,607, up from $480,875 in 2007. Click here for full details on NYRA by the numbers in 2008.
 Have you ever wondered what the role of a horse identifier is? NYRA has one of the most thorough horse identification procedures of any racing jurisdiction. Chief Horse Identifier Janet Reid works with a team of four others - identifiers Carol Dolan and Anthony Jaccino, photographer Diane Connor, and clerk Karen Brady - to ensure that every horse running is exactly who the owners and trainers claim it to be. Click here to read a fascinating in-depth article that delves into the complicated world of the NYRA Horse Identifiers.
 The NYRA Group Sales department has unveiled a new video that has all the details you need to make your next special occasion a truly memorable one. Combine the thrill of thoroughbred racing with world-class dining and service at Aqueduct Racetrack, Belmont Park, or Saratoga Race Course. Let one of NYRA's spectacular venues and staff host your next special occasion. NYRA has the capabilities to handle everything from corporate events to fund raisers, proms to weddings…the possibilities are limitless. Click here to view the new NYRA Group Sales video, or visit the NYRA Group Sales Website.
 “The History and Art of 25 Travers," written by former racing industry executive Vic Zast, was selected by the Schenectady (NY) Gazette as one of the Top 10 Books of the Year 2008. The books selected were chosen because of the quality of their writing. The list included books written by three Pulitzer Prize winners and an Edgar Award winner. Zast’s book is about the last 25 Travers Stakes, each captured graphically in the longest continuing series of sporting art in the world – the Travers posters of Greg Montgomery, an artist from Saratoga Springs, NY. “The History and Art of 25 Travers” was published by North Country Books, Utica, NY. More information about the award-winning book, including ordering information, can be found at this website.
 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, and On The Record, which features candid interviews with trainers.
 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!
 In order to offer an enhanced wagering menu, Rolling Daily Doubles and additional Superfecta opportunities are available during the Aqueduct Winter 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. |
|  |
 |
 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 Sheldon Russell, one of the new wave of talented young jockeys on the NYRA scene. Born in Louisiana, and raised in South Africa and England, this 21-year-old apprentice rider is making quite a name for himself on the New York circuit. Through two months of the Aqueduct winter meet, Russell is hovering around the top five jockeys in terms of wins.
Sheldon is single and currently lives in Garden City, NY.
Q: You were born in Louisiana, but were raised in South Africa and England. Tell the fans about your background growing up.
My parents are both South African, and they came to Louisiana on a working visa. While they were in the United States, I was born, and shortly thereafter we moved back to South Africa. When I was 9, my parents got divorced. At that point, my mom, along with my two sisters and I, moved over to England.
Q: How did you first get involved with horses?
Even though my father was a jockey in South Africa, I really didn’t get interested in horse racing until the age of 14 or so. Two years after my mom and sisters went to England, my dad came over from South Africa as well. At first he worked at Newmarket as an assistant to [legendary English trainer] Sir Michael Stoute, and then he helped out Ed Dunlop, who trains Shadwell’s English contingent. Over the weekends, I would go and help my dad out at Newmarket, and that really helped nurture my interest in the sport.
After I finished high school at the age of 16, I enrolled in the British Racing School. It involves an instruction course and hands-on experience at the stables. And if you progress enough, you can become a jockey. That was really the first formal training that I received.
Q: When did you come to the United States, and what factored into the decision?
After I got my license and became an apprentice in England, I picked up a win, along with a few seconds and thirds. In 2006, the plan was for me to spend three months in the United States. My dad had set up a job for me with Michael Dickinson at Tapeta Farm in Maryland. It was during those three months that I really learned a lot about race riding. From judging pace to switching leads, Michael pretty much taught me everything. He was a real mentor to me.
Q: What happened after your three months with Michael Dickinson were over?
After the three months were over, Michael gave me a speech and told me that he thought it would be good for me to come back to the United States. I returned to England for three months, but eventually decided that I wanted to go back to the States and work for Michael. I mainly breezed horses for him. He stressed patience to me and said that I had a lot to learn.
In early 2007, he sent me to Palm Meadows (in Florida) to help out with his horses, which was a great experience. While I was there, I had the privilege to ride Street Sense (2007 Derby winner) in the mornings for Carl Nafzgar, which was amazing.
Q: When did you get your chance to consistently ride in races?
Michael had let me ride some horses here and there at Laurel, Pimlico, and a few other tracks, but it wasn’t until the Colonial meet in June 2007 that I really got going. That was when I acquired a jockey agent and began picking up race mounts on a consistent basis.
Q: Do you remember your first win? What was that like?
My first win came on July 17, 2007. It was my twentieth mount at Colonial and I was on a 5-year-old mare named Prone that was almost 12/1. It was very fitting as she was trained by an Englishman and the jockey silks had the English flag on them! | |  |
 |
 The NYRA Rewards Players Club is the best spot at Aqueduct for NYRA Rewards members to take in a day at the races. Located in the Sunny Jim Room at Aqueduct, Players Club members can watch the races on a wall of big-screen televisions or on their own individual betting terminals. Access to the Players Club is based on NYRA Rewards account wagering activity, with certain thresholds required to receive a membership card. Entry to the Players Club for members is on first-come, first-serve basis each day. Complimentary coffee service is provided on a regular basis. In the future, quarterly benefits will be rolled out to members based on wagering levels, which will include vouchers for track amenities such as food and beverage, Post Parades, Daily Racing Forms, valet parking, and guest passes.
 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 wagering fees, express funding, 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. |
|  |
 |
 With the unpredictable weather that goes hand-in-hand with a New York winter, we thought it would be a good idea to catch up with Glen Kozak, NYRA's Director of Racing Surfaces, for an exclusive podcast. Glen has been in the racing industry for almost 20 years and makes sure that the racing at Aqueduct, Belmont Park, and Saratoga is conducted on a safe surface. Click here to listen to the podcast.
 Haynesfield is the featured attraction for this month’s computer wallpaper and race replay. The 3-year-old New York-bred colt by Speightstown won the Count Fleet on Saturday, January 3 at Aqueduct. Trained by Steve Asmussen, Haynesfield's Count Fleet victory was his third straight and stamped him as a serious contender on the Triple Crown Trail. Click here to go to the wallpaper and replay download page. | |  |
| |
|
