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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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 NYRA has launched a Twitter website for racing analyst Andy Serling, located at Twitter.com/andyserling. Serling, a co-host of Talking Horses and NYRA Live, is known for his bold predictions and confident demeanor. Serling’s Twitter page will feature a combination of race analysis and wagering suggestions, along with observations that he makes throughout the day while at Saratoga Race Course. Click here to start following Andy!
 NYRA has announced that it will offer a $500,000 Guaranteed Late Pick 4 Saturdays at Saratoga Race Course during the 2009 meet. The meet begins on Wednesday, July 29, with the first Guaranteed Late Pick 4 offered on Saturday, August 1. On Shadwell Travers Day, Saturday, August 29, NYRA will offer a $1 Million Guaranteed Pick 4 that will consist of the Grade 1, $1 million Shadwell Travers, the Grade 1, $300,000 NetJets King’s Bishop, the Grade 1, $300,000 Ballerina, and the Grade 2, $200,000 Ballston Spa. Click here for more details.
 All the excitement of the 140th running of the $1 million Shadwell Travers Stakes could be just a mouse click away! Racing fans can enter for a chance to win a Shadwell Travers Stakes Prize Package valued at more than $1,000 by making their free entry at www.nyra.com. The Shadwell Travers Stakes Prize Package includes a pair of tickets to the 1¼-mile “Mid-Summer Derby” at Saratoga Race Course on Saturday, August 29, round-trip airfare for two, and two nights of hotel accommodations, courtesy of the Hampton Inn and Suites in downtown Saratoga Springs. Click here to enter!
 For the first time this year, NYRA will offer a Jockey Autograph Book, sponsored by Price Chopper, in which fans can collect the signatures of their favorite riders. The book features the ten leading NYRA jockeys by number of wins in 2008, as well as Sam the Bugler and a blank page for additional autographs. Auggie the Mascot will roam the park and hand out a limited number of jockey books to fans on Mondays in August from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m: August 3, 10, 17, and 31. The autograph books are also available for purchase in the NYRA store, with the proceeds going to benefit the Permanently Disabled Jockey Fund. Click here to read more.
 Saratoga fans can watch and wager on the best of British racing in the mornings and enjoy West Coast twilight simulcasting from the comfortable confines of the expanded backyard English/SoCal Racing Tent, presented by Hendrick’s Gin, this summer at Saratoga Race Course. Featuring Hendrick’s Gin, small-batch libations and a full bar, the spacious tent pub also offers southern California-style fare for purchase. Additionally, Twilight Racing concerts will take place on July 31 and Sept. 4 on the newly-erected backyard stage adjacent to the Racing Tent. Click here for all the details.
 When NYRA track announcer Tom Durkin returns to his traditional post atop Saratoga Race Course, his daily call of the third race will be a fan’s B.E.S.T bet. That’s because spectators will have an opportunity to watch the legendary announcer deliver his live call of the third race virtually every day of the six-week Saratoga meet (Travers Day excluded) to benefit the Backstretch Employee Service Team (B.E.S.T.). Click here for all the details.
 It’s no coincidence that the newest dining venue at Saratoga Race Course is named for one of its biggest stars. Curlin, winner of the 2008 Grade 1 Woodward Stakes at Saratoga – not to mention two-time Horse of the Year and all-time leading money-earner in North America with more than $10 million in purses – is in a class by himself. Befitting the stallion’s long list of accomplishments, so is the new Curlin Café. Click here for all the details.
 For the 14th consecutive year, the Travers Festival is set for Saratoga and the Greater Capital Region in anticipation of one of the highlights of the summer: the $1 million Shadwell Travers Stakes for the world’s top three-year-old thoroughbreds. Visitors to Saratoga Race Course and the surrounding area can enjoy nine days of special events, culminating in the 140th running of the Shadwell Travers on Saturday, August 29. The Travers Festival, sponsored by the New York Lottery, kicks off Saturday, August 22 and continues through Sunday, August 30. Within that time, in addition to providing entertainment for visitors, the Travers Festival will help generate hundreds of thousands of dollars for local charities. Some of the events include concerts, golf tournaments, art exhibits, an ice cream eating contest, a battle of the brews, and more. Click here for all the details.
 NYRA will welcome college students back to school this fall by offering them a chance to win scholarships worth $1,000 after each race at the inaugural College Day at Saratoga Race Course on Friday, September 4. All students will receive free grandstand admission with a valid college ID. The first 1,000 students also receive a free commemorative Saratoga Race Course t-shirt. In addition, the University of Arizona's Race Track Industry Program will supplement that offer with an additional $2,000 in scholarship money for a grand total of $3,000 for students accepted into its innovative track management. Once in the gate, students will be invited to register to win a variety of great prizes such as iPods, iTunes gift cards, digital cameras, a $250 airline gift card and the grand prize, $1,000 toward college tuition awarded at the end of every race, courtesy of NYRA. Click here to read more.
 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.
 Fasig-Tipton will host a 5k race (3.1 miles) and a one-mile ‘fun run,’ starting in front of the Humphrey S. Finney Pavilion in Saratoga Springs, NY on Saturday, August 15. All proceeds will be divided equally among the New York Racing Association’s four charities: The Anna House, Backstretch Employee Service Team, New York Racetrack Chaplaincy and The Backstretch Education Fund. Click here for information on how to register. |
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 It doesn’t get any better than August racing at Saratoga Race Course! The top track in North America will host 24 graded races in August, including eleven premier Grade 1 races. Saratoga hosts live racing six days a week from Wednesday through Monday. There is at least one stakes race every single day of the Saratoga meet, making it the most action packed six weeks of racing anywhere on the planet. Click here to see the entire 2009 Saratoga stakes schedule.
 The Grade 1 action in August starts immediately on Saturday the 1st with the $500,000 Diana (GI) for fillies and mares going 1-1/8 mile on the turf. Forever Together came from well off the pace to take last year’s Diana en route to winning the Eclipse Award for champion female turf horse. Also on Saturday, August 1 is the prestigious $500,000 Jim Dandy (GII), with an honor roll of past winners that includes recent superstars such as Street Sense (2007), Medaglia d’Oro (2003), and Awesome Again (1997).
 Sunday, August 2 features the Go For Wand Handicap (GI), one of the top dirt routes in the world for fillies and mares. The last two renditions were won by the tenacious Ginger Punch. Sunday also includes the Fourstardave Handicap (GII) for 3-year-olds & up going 1-1/16 mile on the turf. The final graded race that week is the Amsterdam (GII) on Monday, August 3 for 3-year-old sprinters on the dirt.
 The second weekend of the Saratoga meet features the Fasig-Tipton Festival of Racing, and what a great weekend it is! On Saturday, August 8, the 8-year-old Commentator will go for his third victory in the storied $750,000 Whitney Handicap (GI). The only other horses to have previously won the Whitney three times were Discovery, who won it three straight years from 1934 – 36, and Kelso, who won it in 1961, 63, and 65.
 Also that Saturday, August 8 is the Test (GI), the premier dirt sprint in the world for 3-year-old fillies. Last year it was captured by Indian Blessing, who went on to win the Eclipse Award for champion female sprint horse. On Sunday, August 9, the Fasig-Tipton Festival continues with two great dirt sprints, the Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap (GII) for 3-year-olds and up, and the Honorable Miss Handicap (GII) for fillies and mares.
 The graded action the third week of the meet kicks off on Friday, August 14 with the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame (GII) for 3-year-olds going 1-1/8 mile on the turf. The premier race of the third week is the $500,000 Sword Dancer Invitational (GI) on Saturday, August 15 for 3-year-olds and up going the turf classic distance of 1-1/2 mile. The last two Sword Dancers have been won by Grand Couturier, who is planning to go for an unprecedented third straight victory in the prestigious race.
Saratoga’s fourth week brings with it great juvenile racing, as Wednesday, August 19 is the Adirondack (GII) for 2-year-old fillies on the dirt, and Thursday, August 20 is the Saratoga Special (GII) for the 2-year-old colts. Friday, August 21 features great turf action with the Lake Placid (GII) for 3-year-old fillies going 1-1/8 mile on the turf.
 The marquee race of the meet for 3-year-old fillies is the $600,000 Alabama (GI) on Saturday, August 22. Run at the classic distance of 1-1/4 mile, the Alabama is arguably the most prestigious 3-year-old filly dirt race in the world. Last year’s edition was run by the gutsy Proud Spell, who went on to capture year-end Eclipse honors for champion 3-year-old filly.
 The biggest day of the meet is invariably Shadwell Travers Day on Saturday, August 29, featuring the $1 million Shadwell Travers (GI). Also known as the “Midsummer Derby,” the Shadwell Travers will be run for the 140th time this year, and could feature a rematch between the Derby winner Mine That Bird, the Belmont winner Summer Bird, and possibly the Preakness winner Rachel Alexandra. Last year’s Shadwell Travers was won by the smallest possible margin as Colonel John defeated Mambo In Seattle by a short nose.
 Also on Saturday, August 29 is the NetJets King’s Bishop (GI), featuring the fastest 3-year-old dirt sprinters in the world. Last year, Visionaire put in a furious rally from last place to emerge victorious in the NetJets King’s Bishop. Also on Shadwell Travers Day are the Ballerina (GI) for filly and mare dirt sprinters, the Ballston Spa (GII) for filly and mare turfers, and the Victory Ride (GIII) for 3-year-old filly dirt sprinters.
 The final graded race in the month of August is the $400,000 Personal Ensign (GI) on Sunday the 30th. One of the premier races for filly and mare dirt routers, the Personal Ensign has been won recently by star mares such as Ginger Punch (2008), Fleet Indian (2006), and Storm Flag Flying (2004). | |  |
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 Undeniably one of the most popular non-racing features of the six-week meet at Saratoga Race Course, Sunday giveaway days will again be a focal point in 2009. Four giveaways are planned this year: An Alabama Stakes baseball cap on Aug. 2; a short-sleeve Saratoga t-shirt on Aug. 16; a long-sleeve Saratoga t-shirt on Aug. 23 and a Saratoga knit winter cap on Sept. 6. Also planned for select weekday giveaways is the new Jockey Autograph Book, sponsored by Price Chopper, in which fans can collect the signatures of their favorite New York Racing Association jockeys and others. Click here for the giveaway dates and details.
 ESPN will once again provide live television coverage of Shadwell Travers Day on Saturday, August 29 at Saratoga Race Course, and MSG Plus is introducing a “Saturdays at Saratoga” one-hour, live television show that will air on the remaining five Saturdays. On Saturday, August 29, ESPN’s live coverage of Shadwell Travers Day will run from 4:30 – 6:00 p.m. (EDT). Their coverage will include the $300,000 Ballerina (GI), the $300,000 NetJets King’s Bishop (GI), and the $1 million Shadwell Travers (GI). MSG Plus’ “Saturdays at Saratoga” live show will air on the remaining five Saturdays of the Saratoga meet from 5:00 – 6:00 p.m. NYRA handicappers Jason Blewitt, Eric Donovan, and Andy Serling will provide commentary for the telecasts. Click here for complete details.
 Photo finish pictures are now available on demand at NYRA.com. The site enables fans to view the photo finish pictures for win, place, show, or fourth place at Aqueduct, Belmont Park, or Saratoga, starting with races on Friday, July 24. Click here to learn more about how to access these great photo finishes!
 The Fasig-Tipton Festival of Racing at Saratoga Race Course the weekend of August 8-9 will celebrate the rich partnership between racing and yearling sales with a variety of special events, a celebrity race call, best-turned-out horse (and people!) contests and an innovative, free speaker series for fans.Ushering in two evenings of sales on Aug. 10-11 at the newly-remodeled Humphrey S. Finney Sales Pavilion on East Avenue, the centerpiece of the Festival are two days of world-class racing, highlighted by the 82nd running of the Grade 1, $750,000 Whitney Handicap and the 84th running of the Grade 1, $300,000 Test on Saturday, Aug. 8, and the 24th running of the Grade 2, $250,000 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap and the 18th running of the Grade 2, $150,000 Honorable Miss Handicap on Sunday, Aug. 9. Click here to read more about the Festival!
 On Saturday morning, Aug. 8, Fasig-Tipton and co-sponsors The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA), ThoroFan, and New York Thoroughbred Breeders (NYTB) will host a free education program “From the Horse Farm to the Finish Line: A Seminar on the Thoroughbred Industry” in the sales pavilion on East Avenue. Beginning at 10 a.m., industry experts will participate in a panel discussion about their roles in getting a young thoroughbred from the farm to the sales ring and onto the racetrack, following which fans can watch a demonstration of a consignor showing a yearling to a prospective buyer. Click here for full details.
There will be more at stake than usual at Saratoga Race Course the weekend of Aug. 8-9, with the nation’s top jockeys and trainers competing in the first Fasig-Tipton Jockey-Trainer Contest. All 21 races over the inaugural Fasig-Tipton Festival of Racing weekend will be included in the contest, with trainers and jockeys compiling points on a 5-3-1 system for win, place, and show, with double points for horses that passed through the Fasig-Tipton sales ring. Fans will be able to follow along with scorecards in the official track program, and updates will be posted on NYRA TV in between the races. Click here for more info.
 NYRA announced that Ellen McClain has been named senior vice president and chief financial officer. In her position, McClain will oversee all NYRA financials, including accounting, budgeting, and forecasting. She will start with the company in mid-August. Click here for more information on Ellen.
 While NYRA moves its base of operations from Belmont Park to Saratoga Race Course beginning July 29, fans and horse players can catch all the upstate action right here on Long Island through Labor Day. For all race days during the duration of the Saratoga meet (Wednesday – Monday, July 29 – Sept. 7, 2009) the first and second floor of the Belmont Park Clubhouse, including the Belmont Café and the backyard, will be open for simulcast wagering. On Saturdays and Sundays only, the North Shore Terrace on the fourth floor of the Belmont Clubhouse will also be open. Click here for complete details.
 NYRA and many members of the Jockeys’ Guild who ride at its three racetracks, along with the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association (NYTHA) and The Jockey Club, have jointly pledged more than $100,000 in financial support in 2009 to the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation (TRF), which provides humane retirement options for Thoroughbreds at the end of their racing careers, it was announced today. NYRA will contribute $50,000 while NYTHA and The Jockey Club will donate $25,000 each. All 29 of the regular NYRA-based riders have pledged to donate, through a voluntary checkoff program, $1 from each mount. Click here to read more.
 Saratoga Race Course purses will increase significantly based on the number of horses starting in each race, according to the new 2009 purse incentive program announced by The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) for the six-week meet running from Wednesday, July 29 through Monday, September 7. Click here to read about the incentives.
 Fans lined up at Belmont Park Saturday, July 4 to get autographs from jockey Calvin Borel, resulting in more than $4,000 being raised for the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund (PDJF). The proceeds from the signing, with autographs going for $10 each, totaled $2,170, and NYRA announced it will match that number for a total of $4,340 going to the PDJF. Click here to read more.
 A new resource is now available for Belmont Park backstretch workers wishing to improve their English, learn computer skills, and use the internet for communication and research. “La Escuelita” is a state-of-the-art, interactive language lab and learning center for backstretch employees directed and staffed by the Backstretch Education Fund, Inc., an organization dedicated to providing educational opportunities to backstretch workers in New York. Since 2002, the organization has offered English language instruction, literacy classes, and vocational training to help workers, the majority of whom are Hispanic, improve communication skills and develop a sense of community. Since the program’s inception, more than 1,000 workers have participated in English courses. Click here to read about "La Escuelita."
 Jockeys at Belmont Park began testing padded crops in July designed to be gentler on horses, with the goal of fully implementing the new equipment for the six-week Saratoga meeting. Changes to the design of the crop include a new maximum length of 30 inches and maximum weight of eight ounces. The “popper” – the end of the crop that touches the horse – has been lengthened to seven inches and cushioned to absorb shock. Click here for full details on the new crops.
 NYRA has introduced turf course updates to NYRA.com in order to provide the most accurate and timely information on each day’s grass races. Racing fans can go to NYRA.com, click on the web banner titled, “Turf Course Updates,” and instantly see the track conditions and find out which races, if any, have been taken off the turf for that day. The updates are provided on the website shortly after the NYRA Racing Department has made its decision regarding the day’s turf racing, and could be posted as early as 8:00 a.m. Click here to see the turf course updates.
 The New York State Racing and Wagering Board today enacted new directives that lay the groundwork for more Superfecta wagering opportunities for both Thoroughbred and Standardbred racing fans. Under the new directives, which are effective immediately, the Racing and Wagering Board is authorizing the conduct of Superfecta wagering with fewer betting interests. In other words, the Board is reducing the number of horses that must start a race in order for tracks to offer Superfecta betting. The new directives also correct inequities that had existed in Superfecta wagering in New York. Click here to read more. |
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 Each month we’ll take a trip to the backstretch and visit with a different jockey or trainer. August means Saratoga, and this month we’re visiting with trainer John C. Kimmel, who last year saddled seven consecutive winners over the last four days of The New York Racing Association, Inc.’s prestigious upstate summer meeting.
Kimmel, who is also a licensed veterinarian and practiced veterinary medicine for eight years before beginning to train full time in 1987, finished 2008 with a 31-35-24 record from 231 starters at NYRA tracks and more than $1,650,000 in purse earnings. In 1999, Kimmel was leading New York trainer in wins (71) and he led New York in purses earned for three consecutive years from 1997-1999.
Q: Since we’re heading into Saratoga, we have to talk about your win streak last year. Tell me what that was like.
We had kind of a slow first half of the meet, I think we had only won one race up to that point and it was kind of getting to be a long depressing Saratoga. When you don’t perform well up there it makes for kind of a quiet, sad meet – everybody is up there, [you’re] in front of the big crowds, and you always want to perform well.
[When] we came into that last weekend, we had a lot of live horses I thought could run well and the first one won, then we came back with the second [and the third that Friday]. The next day we had another winner and we had one more [on Sunday], and that made five and we came back [with the last two on Monday]. I actually had a chance to win eight in a row with what was probably my best horse, Break Water Edison in the Hopeful on Monday and he didn’t run a winning race, he ran fourth. It’s just unbelievable when things get on a roll like that. It seems no matter whether you think they’re coming in good form or not, horses just get in a groove and they were[all] running great. It was just a nice ride to be on. When you can leave Saratoga and win eight races, and seven in a row, it’s always a lot of fun. | |  |
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 This month, we were lucky to be joined by Ramon Dominguez for a special podcast. Ramon registered an astonishing 98 wins during the 2009 Belmont Park Spring/Summer Meet, shattering Angel Cordero Jr.'s modern-day record of 92, set in 1982. It marked the third consecutive New York riding title for Dominguez, who looks to sustain the momentum at Saratoga. Last year, he finished 5th in wins during the Saratoga meet with 27. We chatted with Ramon on a number of topics, including the patience that he has illustrated on and off the track. Click here to listen to the podcast.
 When Gio Ponti entered the Grade 1, $500,000 Man o'War, the question was whether or not he could get the 1-3/8 mile distance. The answer was a resounding yes. Despite having to come from seventh early behind a dawdling pace, the 4-year-old son of Tale of the Cat burst past the leaders in the stretch en route to a convincing 1-3/4 length victory. Ridden confidently by leading jockey Ramon Dominguez, Gio Ponti captured his third consecutive Grade 1 victory for trainer Christophe Clement. Click here to see the race replay and download the computer wallpaper! | |  |
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