Jenny Kellner
NYRA/Belmont Park

ELMONT, N.Y. – With four great live bands, a straw beach mat giveaway, a special appearance by racing legends Steve Cauthen and Jorge Velasquez and world-class stakes racing, the biggest beach party on Long Island is set for Memorial Day weekend at BelmontPark.

The festivities kick off on Saturday, May 26 as jockeys Cauthen and Velasquez autograph postcards to commemorate the unforgettable 1978 Triple Crown, won by Affirmed over archrival Alydar. With the 18-year-old Cauthen…

Mike Gathagan
Vice Presiden-Communications
Maryland Jockey Club

BALTIMORE, Md. – After a three-year absence, the Pimlico Special returns Friday with a Grade 3 rating, a $300,000 purse and a stellar field of 10 handicap runners. Fifteen of the previous 41 winners earned Horse of the Year honors.

Seven other stakes help comprise the 13-race card including the return of the $300,000 Black-Eyed Susan Stakes (G2) and also featuring the $30,000 Pimlico Female Jockey Challenge, back for its second…

(Edited Santa Anita Park report)

ARCADIA, Calif. — I’ll Have Another, who parlayed victory in the Grade I Santa Anita Derby on April 7 to victory in America’s most famous race, the Kentucky Derby on Saturday, not only brought home a winning purse of $1.2 million, he made 32-year-old Pasadena resident Greg Politano $16,300 as a result of a $1,000 win wager made by Santa Anita on his behalf. 

Polatano, who works in supply team management for a medical company…

Jenny Kellner
NYRA/Belmont Park

ELMONT, N.Y. – After an eventful 24 hours, jockey Rosie Napravnik returned to BelmontPark Saturday afternoon with her first Grade 1 victory and a bit of racing history in tow. On Friday, the 24-year-old piloted Believe You Can to win the Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs, becoming the first female jockey to win the prestigious race for 3-year-old fillies.

“It’s just been a whirlwind – I haven’t had a chance to sit down and relax…

Amy Gregory
Keeneland Association Inc.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Keeneland’s 2012 spring race meeting proved to be an enormously successful finale for President Nick Nicholson, posting several records for attendance and wagering and boasting field sizes that are among the largest in the country. More importantly, it also marked the sixth consecutive spring meeting in which there were no catastrophic breakdowns during racing on Keeneland’s all-weather main track.

“I believe our success directly correlates to our dedication to safety,” said…

Mike Gathagan
Vice President-Communications
Maryland Jockey Club

BALTIMORE, Md. – Trainer Todd Pletcher will start Hudson Steele in the $75,000 Henry S. Clark Stakes, a race scheduled for one mile on the turf at Pimlico Race Course Saturday afternoon. The race could be used as a springboard for some to the $300,000 Dixie Stakes (G2) on the Preakness undercard.

Hudson Steele, a son of Johannesburg, has won three of five on the infield, with a victory in the…

Jenny Kellner
NYRA/Belmont Park
         
ELMONT, N.Y. – With premier thoroughbred racing, live bands, Family Fun Sundays, a trio of Party at the Park Fridays and much more, Belmont Park offers excitement and entertainment for everyone when the historic track opens for racing on Friday, April 27.

The 144th running of the Grade 1, $1 million Belmont Stakes on Saturday, June 9, is the glittering centerpiece of BelmontPark’s 56-day spring/summer meet, which runs through July 15. The…

Mike Gathagan
Vice President-Communications
Maryland Jockey Club

BALTIMORE, Md. – Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates, will join with Pimlico Race Course to host a Grade 1 race for purebred Arabian horses on Preakness Day, Saturday, May 19. The $1 million Preakness® Stakes (G1), the middle jewel of Thoroughbred racing’s Triple Crown, headlines the 14-race card.

The 14-race program also will feature the $75,000-added The President of the United Arab Emirates Cup, a Grade 1 race…

(Keeneland Association Inc. report)

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Keeneland shattered its single-day attendance and all-sources wagering records on Toyota Blue Grass Day, Saturday, April 14.

On-track attendance of 40,617 crushed the previous record of 33,821 set on Saturday, April 21, 2007, Coolmore Lexington Stakes Day. The former record for a Toyota Blue Grass Day attendance was 33,727 set on April 10, 2010.

“This was a historic day at Keeneland and we are humbled by the depth and the breadth of support…

Amy Gregory
Keeneland Association Inc.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Kendall Hansen and Skychai Racing’s Hansen, winner of the 2011 Grey Goose Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) and champion 2-year-old of 2011, heads a field of 13 horses entered Wednesday for Saturday’s 88th running of the $750,000 Toyota Blue Grass (G1) at Keeneland.

The 1 1/8-mile Toyota Blue Grass serves as a major steppingstone for the May 5 Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1). A total of 19 horses that ran…