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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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 The New York Racing Association, Inc. will offer both a $1 million guaranteed all-stakes Pick 6 and a $1 million guaranteed all-stakes Pick 4 on Belmont Stakes Day, Saturday, June 6. These wagers offer the best opportunities for horse players to cash big on New York's biggest day of racing! Click here to read about the details for these tremendous wagering opportunities!
 Racing fans at Belmont Park will be able to watch and wager on Europe's richest and most famous Classic, the Epsom Derby, as part of an outstanding morning card from the United Kingdom on Belmont Stakes Day, Saturday, June 6. Simulcasting of races 2 - 7 from Epsom Downs in London will begin at 8:55 a.m. (EDT), with post time of the Investec Derby set for 10:45 a.m. As well, races 1 -7 from Musselburgh in Scotland will be simulcast beginning at 9:20 a.m. Click here for all the details.
 NYRA is offering a $350,000 Guaranteed Late Pick 4 Saturdays at Belmont Park during the 2009 Spring/Summer Meet,. Although NYRA offers daily Pick 4’s on races 2-5 and 7-10, the $350,000 guarantee applies only to the Late Pick 4 on Saturdays. Click here to read more about the guaranteed wagers.
 Start your weekends at Belmont Park with Party at the Park, the biggest party on Long Island! Starting June 12, Fridays at Belmont feature a 3:00 p.m. post time and a party that includes food and drink specials along with a great live concert series that starts in the Festival Tent after the conclusion of live racing (approximately 7:15 p.m.). It’s an easy decision to join us at Belmont Park for an afternoon and evening filled with the best in live racing, food, drinks, and music!
 Looking for a great place to spend with your kids on a Sunday afternoon? Belmont Park has your answer with Family Fun Days on Sundays, presented by Coca-Cola! The beautiful Belmont Backyard and Picnic Area comes alive with a variety of fun and exciting activities and games that the entire family can enjoy. Every Sunday features pony rides, a petting zoo, face painters, and giant inflatables. We also have special activities scheduled for each week.
 Celebrate Father's Day at Belmont Park on Sunday, June 21! There will be whiskey tasting, discounted hand-rolled cigars, hot lather shaves, and neck massages in the Backyard Festival Tent. In addition, it will be a Family Fun Day Sunday and there will be a live band in the back yard. It's the perfect way to spend Father's Day with dad!
 One of our most popular programs is Breakfast at Belmont Park! Get a behind-the-scenes look at the world of thoroughbred racing, including guided tram tours of Belmont’s remarkable stable area, trackside commentary of live morning workouts, daily starting gate demonstrations, and much more! Breakfast at Belmont Park is open to the public on weekends and holidays during the Belmont Spring/Summer Meet (May 2 – July 26). Admission and activities to Breakfast at Belmont Park are free, and an optional breakfast can be purchased.
 The annual Belmont Park Handicapping Contest will be held on Saturday, June 27 & Sunday, June 28. The first three finishers in the contest will gain entry to the NTRA/Daily Racing Form National Handicapping Championship, which is scheduled to take place next January in Las Vegas, NV. There are also great cash prizes for the first 20 finishers. The contest is limited to 200 entrants, so make sure to send in your application soon. For more information, email Kathy Locke at klocke@nyrainc.com.
 Beautiful Belmont Park provides an intimate and elegant setting for groups of any nature and is a particularly dramatic destination for corporate events. Dine in the spacious Marquee Tent or in the Garden Terrace, which rests high above Belmont Park’s sweeping mile-and-a-half oval. Enjoy superb fare, spectacular views and unparalleled service while experiencing thoroughbred racing at its finest. All options include admission, program and luncheon. Drink packages can be added on at an additional cost. Children (ages 3-12) receive a 33 percent disount! Packages and menus can also be customized to fit client needs. For more information, visit www.nyragroupsales.com or call (888) 285-5961.
 The Daily Racing Form has entered into a partnership with The New York Racing Association to sponsor and provide analysts for an expanded and reformatted “Talking Horses” for the Saratoga race meet. “Talking Horses, Presented by Daily Racing Form” will be conducted in a live audience format in 2009. The popular longstanding daily television show will be extended to 45 minutes, 11:45 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. every racing day and broadcast live in the Carousel Restaurant facing the grandstand backyard. Click here for more information.
 The logo for the 2009 Shadwell Travers Stakes (G1) features the roofline of the Saratoga Race Course Clubhouse entrance on Nelson Avenue suspended above the race name and year and speaks to the race’s heritage as the cornerstone of the summer meeting. The $1 million Shadwell Travers, also known as “The Mid-Summer Derby,” is the oldest stakes race for three-year-olds in the United States and is the highlight of the Saratoga meeting. The long list of Travers winners includes such greats as Man o’War, Whirlaway, Native Dancer, and Alydar. Click here to read more. The 2009 Belmont Stakes logo was designed by Eric Johnston of Art Design Studios.
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 Belmont Stakes Day is almost here! In addition to the 141st running of the prestigious $1 Million Belmont Stakes (GI), Saturday, June 6 also features five additional graded races, making it New York’s most prolific day of graded racing all year long. The other graded stakes that day are comprised of the Woodford Reserve Manhattan Handicap (GI), the Just A Game (GI), the Acorn (GI), the True North Handicap (GII), and the Woody Stephens (GII). To help celebrate these races, NYRA will be offering a $1 Million Guaranteed Pick 6 and a $1 Million Guaranteed Pick 4 on Belmont Stakes Day!
 The day before the Belmont Stakes, Friday, June 5, also offers two tremendous graded races. The Brooklyn Handicap (GII) is one of the few remaining 1-1/2 mile dirt graded stakes races in the country, while the Hill Prince (GIII) also features some of the nation’s most promising three-year-old turf colts. Last year’s Hill Prince was won by Gio Ponti, who went on to become a grade one winner later in the year.
 The second weekend in June features two tremendous graded races! On Saturday, June 13 is the revered Ogden Phipps Handicap (GI). The honor roll of past winners for this race reads like a who’s who of racing’s top mares, including recent Eclipse Award champions Ginger Punch (2008) and Ashado (2005). Then on Sunday, June 14 is the always competitive Poker (GIII) for older turf milers. Last year’s Poker was captured by multiple grade one winner Kip Deville.
 The graded action at Belmont Park continues on Saturday, June 20 with the New York (GII), a true stamina test for fillies & mares on the turf. Mauralakana, a grade one winner, won last year’s New York in very impressive fashion. The top New York-bred race in June is the Mike Lee (NYB) on Sunday, June 21 for three-year-olds going seven furlongs on the dirt.
 The final weekend in June includes two more fantastic graded races! Saturday, June 27 features the eagerly anticipated Mother Goose (GI), which always highlights some of the country’s best three-year-old dirt fillies. Godolphin Stable’s Music Note emerged victorious last year, the first of three grade one victories for her on the year.
 June’s graded action at Belmont Park concludes on Sunday the 28th with the First Flight Handicap (GII) for filly & mare dirt sprinters. Legendary trainer Allen Jerkens won last year’s First Flight with Any Limit, marking the fifth time that Jerkens had won the race. | |  |
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 The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) has launched BelmontStakes.com, a website dedicated to the prestigious third jewel of thoroughbred racing’s storied Triple Crown, scheduled to be run this year for the 141st time on Saturday, June 6 at Belmont Park. The brand new website, designed by AmericanEagle.com, offers visitors a myriad of great Belmont Stakes content, including videos, podcasts, photo galleries, news, race day information, a section dedicated to the race’s history, and special content from the Daily Racing Form. Click here to visit www.belmontstakes.com.
 Even without a Triple Crown at stake, the Belmont Stakes remains at the top of the list of major New York sporting events. And the neighboring communities of Elmont, Floral Park, Garden City, all part of the Town of Hempstead, will be gearing up for Belmont Stakes Day by participating in the Belmont Stakes Festival from Saturday, May 30 – Saturday, June 6. Click here to read more details about the festivals.
 The Empire State Building will honor the New York Racing Association, shining its world-famous tower lights in green and white on Thursday, June 4, 2009 in celebration of 141st running of The Belmont Stakes, the third leg of the prestigious Triple Crown. Soaring 1,454 feet above Midtown Manhattan, the Empire State Building is the “World’s Most Famous Office Building.” For more information on the Empire State Building, please visit www.esbnyc.com.
 HRRN will provide live coverage of the 141st Belmont Stakes on Saturday, June 6, from 5:00-7:00 ET. The broadcast will be carried on multiple HRRN affiliates throughout the country and streamed live on the HRRN website, www.horseracingradio.net. In addition to its national Belmont Stakes coverage, HRRN plans a 2 hour live broadcast of the stakes races on the Belmont undercard from 2-4 ET, featuring the True North (G2), Just A Game (G1), and Acorn (G1). A complete listing of affiliates can be found on the HRRN website. Click here to read more.
 On Belmont Stakes Day, Saturday, June 6, racing fans will be able to avoid traffic trouble as they arrive for the 141st running of the Grade 1, $1 million Belmont Stakes, the 1½- mile “Test of the Champion” for three-year-olds. First race post for the 13-race card is 11:35 a.m. For this special day, The New York Racing Association, Inc. has arranged alternate transportation for its fans. Six courtesy buses will run from 10 a.m. – 9 p.m. to accommodate residents of Floral Park and Elmont. Click here to read more about the schedules.
 NYRA was thrilled to announce that Maureen Natosi of Ridgefield Park, N.J. was the winner of the Belmont Stakes Prize Package. Natosi will receive two premium tickets to the 2009 Belmont Stakes and a two-night stay at The Garden City Hotel. Natosi was one of 11,217 people who entered the Belmont Stakes Prize Package contest, which NYRA debuted last year. Click here for all of the details.
 The "Belmont Special" is coming back! On Thursday, May 28, Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) train service from Penn Station directly into Belmont Park was restored. The "Belmont Special" had been eliminated as part of a series of budget cuts and proposed fare hikes by the MTA, parent agency of the LIRR. Extra train service for the $1 million Belmont Stakes on Saturday, June 6, will be provided, with 18 trains scheduled, beginning at 9:59 a.m. Westbound service will commence at 4:06 p.m. and continue until 9:00 p.m. Click here to read more.
 The National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) announced that Belmont Park, home of the Belmont Stakes, has been fully accredited by the NTRA Safety and Integrity Alliance following a complete review of all racing operations at the facility. The Elmont, N.Y., racetrack is the third racing facility to be so designated by the Alliance. The accreditation of Belmont was the culmination of a lengthy certification process that began with the track’s completion of a 48-page written application and continued as Belmont hosted several meetings with Alliance officials. Click here to read the full story.
 Let’s Go Stable’s Ready Echo was named Best Turned Out Horse by Shadwell Farm Manager Gregory Clarke prior to the 116th running of the Shadwell Metropolitan Handicap (GI) at Belmont Park. Although he ran seventh in the Memorial Day feature, Ready’s Echo impressed Clarke enough to earn his groom, Martine Estrada, a $500 award. Click here to read quotes from all the winners!
 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 Manhasset 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. |
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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 Jose Lezcano, a rising star currently third in the standings at Belmont Park. Born and raised in Panama and a graduate of the renowned Laffit Pincay jockey school in his native country, Lezcano, 24, rode his 1000th winner at Gulfstream earlier this year and won the winter/spring riding title at the Florida track. After just five years riding in the U.S., Lezcano can already claim two mounts in the Kentucky Derby – he finished 8th aboard Deputy Glitters in 2006 and 12th aboard Visionaire in 2008. On June 6 he will ride in his first Belmont Stakes aboard Robert V. LaPenta’s Miner’s Escape, conditioned by Nick Zito. Zito has sent 20 starters to post in the Belmont over the course of his career, won twice with longshots Birdstone (2004) and Da’Tara (2008), finished second six times and third three times. We caught up with Lezcano and agent Jason Beides for a quick conversation between mounts during training hours last week.
Q: You’re off to a great start so far at Belmont this spring – currently third in the standings with 21 wins from 86 starts going into the card on Friday, May, 29 – how do you like riding in New York?
Lezcano: “I like New York, it’s a big track. You can do whatever you want with the horse [on a big track].”
Q: You got the call to ride Miner’s Escape in the Belmont Stakes – it will be your first mount in the Belmont – what do you think of the race?
Beides: “Jose rode Miner’s Escape once at Gulfstream, broke his maiden (March 14). It looks like he’s bred to run all day, so we expect the distance to be no problem and it’s never a bad thing to ride for Nick Zito in the Belmont!”
Q: Tell me some more about Miner’s Escape – what kind of horse is he? Zito said after you worked him last week that he’s not the best work horse in the mornings – what do you think?
Beides: “We didn’t have the blinkers on him [last week] – without the blinkers on, he’s not as aggressive. Nick really wasn’t looking for an aggressive work, just keep him fit and happy and the day of the race we’ll have the blinkers on and he’ll be a lot more impressive."
Lezcano: “He’s working good, easy to ride. He’s a good horse.” | |  |
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