Cover image courtesy of Horsephotos via TDN America
Belmont scheduled for June
By Bill Finley/TDN America
What has traditionally been the final leg of the Triple Crown will now be the first. The G1 Belmont S. will be run June 20 at the distance of a mile and an eighth (1800 metres), NYRA announced Tuesday.
In a year where the coronavirus has caused tracks across the country to scramble and adjust their racing calendars and stakes schedules, the Triple Crown, in order, will now consist of the June 20 Belmont, the G1 Kentucky Derby September 5 and the G1 Preakness on October 3.
“While this will certainly be a unique running of this historic race, we are grateful to be able to hold the Belmont Stakes in 2020." - Dave O’Rourke
“The Belmont S. is a New York institution that will provide world-class entertainment for sports fans during these challenging times,” NYRA President & CEO Dave O’Rourke said in a statement. “While this will certainly be a unique running of this historic race, we are grateful to be able to hold the Belmont S. in 2020. Thanks to our partners at NBC Sports, fans across the country can look forward to a day of exceptional Thoroughbred racing at a time when entertainment and sports are so important to providing a sense of normalcy.”
The distance of the race was not the only change. The purse has been cut from US$1.5 million (AU$2.29 million) to US$1 million (AU$1.53 million) and it will take place in front of an empty grandstand.
The G1 Belmont S. | Image courtesy of Adam Mooshian
NYRA confirmed that the race will be shown on NBC, as part of a three-hour telecast.
With the timing and distance of the race and with some trainers likely to prioritise the Kentucky Derby, it remains to be seen what the Belmont lineup will look like. But at least one trainer is ready to embrace the race, as Bob Baffert said he will likely point two of his undefeated stars, Charlatan (USA) (Speightstown {USA}) and Nadal (USA) (Blame {USA}), to the Belmont.
“Depending on how they are training, I will have Nadal and Charlatan for the race,” Baffert said. “I backed off both a little bit but am starting back up now. I am just glad they are having the Belmont. I would have preferred they have it after the Preakness to keep the tradition, but they will all be very exciting races.”
Baffert is pointing his other 3-year-old star, Authentic (USA) (Into Mischief {USA}) to the June 6 G1 Santa Anita Derby.
Bob Baffert | Image courtesy of Eclipse Sportswire
Barclay Tagg, the trainer of GI Florida Derby winner Tiz the Law (USA) (Constitution {USA}), said he would have preferred the Belmont stay at 12 furlongs (2400 metres) but is nonetheless pointing for the race.
“Yes, we are planning on running, but I don’t particularly like the mile and an eighth,” Tagg said. “I think they should have kept it longer, at least at a mile and a quarter. It’s supposed to be a classic. I guess they are doing that to bring more horses in.
"The dates, there’s nothing you can do about that. You can complain about dates all you want but there are so many things going into dates this year you can’t blame anybody for where they are running their races. But it’s a shame they had to change the order of the Triple Crown races around.”
"You can complain about dates all you want but there are so many things going into dates this year you can’t blame anybody for where they are running their races." - Barclay Tagg
Trainer Patrick Biancone said he plans on running Sole Volante (USA) (Karakontie {Jpn}) in the Belmont, but not his other top 3-year-old, Ete Indien (USA) (Summer Front {USA}).
“With the circumstances this year, we need to start somewhere,” Biancone said. “I was expecting the race would be run in the middle or end of June, so I’ve programmed it so that Sole Volante will be ready for the Belmont. When it comes to the tradition of these races, there’s nothing anybody can do about that. This virus has killed so many people, the impact of racing is minimal compared to what is going on in the world.”
Sole Volante (USA) with Assistant Trainer Andie Biancone | Image courtesy of Christina Bossinakis
Belmont will reopen June 3 for a 25-day meet with a stakes schedule that includes a number of purse cuts and the cancellation of several stakes traditionally run in the spring at the NYRA tracks. Spectators will not be allowed to attend the races throughout the spring season at Belmont.
Following the opening week, racing will be held Thursdays through Sundays with closing day scheduled for July 12.
“The resumption of live racing at Belmont Park June 3, with all appropriate health and safety protocols in place, will support the hundreds of small businesses, family-owned farms and thousands of hourly workers who form the backbone of Thoroughbred racing in New York,” O’Rourke said. “The return of live sports, especially New York institutions like the Belmont S., is a welcome sign of progress that will bring some sense of normalcy back to our everyday lives.”
The stakes schedule for the spring/summer meet will feature 40 total stakes races worth US$7 million (AU$10.68 million), including 22 graded stakes.
France stops racing in 'red zone'
Courtesy TDN Europe
After eight days of racing behind closed doors since resuming on May 11, racing has once again been called off in France’s ‘red zone’ areas–Ile-de-France, Hauts-de-France, Grand-Est and Bourgogne-Franche-Comte, which comprise Paris and its surrounding areas–with a government decree expected to be published in the coming days specifying that racing can continue in the country’s ‘green zones,’ but not the red.
The meetings affected over the next week are ParisLongchamp (Thursday and Sunday), Strasbourg (Thursday), Fontainebleau and Compiegne (Friday), Saint-Cloud (Monday) and Auteuil (Tuesday). Other courses in red zones include Maisons-Laffitte, La Croise Laroche, Amiens, Wissembourg, Nancy and Vittel.
Racing at ParisLongchamp is off again | Image courtesy of Scoop Dyga
France Galop is working on plans to rearrange the May and June calendars and relocate the affected fixtures. Changes through this weekend include the movement of the two ParisLongchamp meetings to Deauville; the Fontainebleau meeting will move to Vichy and Compiegne to Dieppe. Thursday’s Strasbourg meeting has been postponed with a new date to be announced soon.
A joint release from France Galop and LeTROT read in part, “While the resumption of racing is reinforced by this decree to be published, the parent companies and the Federation Nationale des Courses Hippiques deeply regret that the racecourses located in the red zones cannot operate as they have done since May 11. The reinforced closed-door protocol and all sanitary measures have also been scrupulously respected since the resumption of racing on May 11. Regular controls have been carried out and have not revealed any problems.
"The parent companies and the Federation Nationale des Courses Hippiques deeply regret that the racecourses located in the red zones cannot operate as they have done since May 11." - Press Release from France Galop and LeTROT
“However, the parent companies take note of this decision, which regulates the conditions for the resumption of horse racing, and will apply the new directives from Thursday. Some prefectures, such as Paris, have already anticipated the publication of the decree by notifying France Galop and LeTROT this morning of the decision to prohibit the opening of their racecourses.”
A Tuesday evening Tweet from France Galop President Edouard de Rothschild read, “inexplicable and irrational. I will not give up. I am proud of your exemplary behaviour behind closed doors since May 11 and the colossal work provided by our teams for more than two months. Responsive we are and we will be. Long live our races.”
France Galop Chief Executive Officer Olivier Delloye tweeted: “I hoped our contingency plans would not be necessary but they will for the forthcoming weeks. B-plan to be released soon. No fixture will be lost: racing goes on but we need to adapt to fast-changing (and hard to read) rules.”
Edouard de Rothschild | Image courtesy of Racing Post
Ireland retains full Group racing program
Courtesy TDN Europe
Despite the delayed start to the flat season, Ireland will maintain its full Group-race program for 2019, Horse Racing Ireland revealed on Tuesday when it published the Group and Listed races and premier handicaps for the year.
The majority of the country’s Group 1 races remain in their original spots with the exception of the G1 Tattersalls Gold Cup, which moves to July 26 and is now open to horses aged three and up; it was previously for 4-year-olds and older.
Racing resumes in Ireland behind closed doors on June 8, and as previously announced the Classic season will kick off with the G1 Irish 2000 Guineas on June 12 followed by the G1 Irish 1000 Guineas the next day. The G1 Irish Derby and G1 Irish Oaks remain in their original slots on June 27 and July 18, respectively, as the does G1 Irish St Leger on September 13 on Irish Champions Weekend. The 2-year-old pattern will begin in early July.
Magical (Ire) winning last year’s Tattersalls Gold Cup | Image courtesy Racing Post
Racing in Ireland was held behind closed doors from March 13 to 24, after which it was suspended as the country went into lockdown due to COVID-19. Eighty-seven fixtures were lost.
“The revised list of pattern races published today will see many of them run on their original dates and under their typical conditions, though inevitably some have had date, race conditions and even venue changes to allow them fit into the new schedule,” said Brian Kavanagh, chief executive of HRI.
“The revised list of pattern races published today will see many of them run on their original dates and under their typical conditions." - Brian Kavanagh
“Apart from the three Group 1 races normally run on Guineas weekend, all other Group 1 races in Ireland will be run on their originally scheduled dates and venues.
“The 2-year-old Group race program will start about six weeks later than normal, in early July, but again the full complement of opportunities will be run between then and season end; 2020 will be anything but a normal year, but in the circumstances we have tried to preserve the opportunities which the Irish race program offers to the better horse.”
