​NYRA Triple Play to offer all-turf sequence on Sunday at Belmont Park

by Mary Eddy

The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) will offer an all-turf sequence for the NYRA Triple Play wager on Sunday at Belmont Park. 

The NYRA Triple Play, a Pick 3 wager with a $3 bet minimum available exclusively to retail customers, has a takeout rate of 19 percent. Each Sunday, the NYRA Triple Play features three specially selected races.

Action begins with in Race 6 at 3:13 p.m. Eastern with nine fillies and mares contesting at one mile over the Widener turf in an allowance optional claimer. Trainer Chad Brown will send out two contenders in Nevisian Sunrise and Zainalarab. Nevisian Sunrise will stretch out as she looks to rebound from an 11th-place finish last out in the six-furlong Grade 3 Intercontinental. She was a 1 1/4-length winner two starts back in a first-level allowance going one mile at Keeneland. Zainalarab was a close second in a third-level optional claimer last time out sprinting seven furlongs in her turf debut, finishing a half-length behind Messidor after closing from seventh-of-10. 

Trainer Christophe Clement will send out Group 3 winner King’s Harlequin as she looks for her first stateside victory in her second attempt. Winner of the 2020 Group 3 Prix d’Aumale at Longchamp, she was last seen finishing fifth in an optional claiming race on May 15. 

The middle leg [Race 7, 3:47 p.m.] will see eight fillies and mares in an 11-furlong allowance for non-winners of two. Clement will hope to see Classic Colors earn her second victory in a row after taking a 1 1/16-mile optional claiming victory last out on May 22 with a gutsy effort to secure a three-quarter length win over next-out winners Instinctive and Marvelous Maude. 

Clement’s other entrant, Eylara, will look to find the winner’s circle after on-the-board efforts in her first two American starts, most recently finishing a good second to stablemate Community Adjusted on June 17. Churchill Downs shippers Stepper for Tom Drury, Jr. and Met in Miami for Graham Motion will both look to secure their first win of the year after their latest efforts in May under the Twin Spires. 

The sequence closes out in Race 9 at 4:51 p.m. as a wide-open field of 11 maidens will attempt to graduate in a 1 1/16-mile $40,000 maiden claimer over the Widener turf. First-time starter Imola arrives at his debut for Hall of Fame trainer and co-owner Todd Pletcher from a half-mile breeze over the Belmont inner turf in 51.32 seconds on July 4. Co-owned with CHC Inc., Imola is a half-brother to Grade 1 winner Kimari. Longest Day, a half-brother to multiple graded stakes-winner Five Iron, makes his debut for Clement off an easy half-mile over the Oklahoma dirt training track at Saratoga in 51.86 seconds on June 30. 

North Carolina was a distant fifth first time off the claim last out in a $75,000 maiden claimer for trainer Linda Rice. The half-brother to graded-stakes winner Dream Awhile returns to the price at which he was claimed under returning rider Jose Lezcano. North Carolina earned a field-best turf Beyer Speed Figure of 81 for a close second-place effort in 1 1/16-mile maiden special weight in October at Belmont.

Also entered are Union of Thoughts, who has improved his finish with each of his three lifetime starts for trainer Jena Antonucci, and The Iceman Commeth, a half-brother to graded stakes-winner Proceed Bee, for trainer Tom Morley. 

Featuring a $3 bet minimum, the NYRA Triple Play will cover three races on Sunday cards throughout the 44-day Belmont spring/summer meet. Each NYRA Triple Play will feature a mandatory payout of the net pool. Wagering on the NYRA Triple Play will be available on ADW platforms and at simulcast facilities across the country.

America’s Day at the Races will present daily coverage and analysis of the spring/summer meet at Belmont Park on the networks of FOX Sports. For the complete broadcast schedule, visit https://www.nyra.com/belmont/racing/tv-schedule.

NYRA Bets is the official wagering platform of Belmont Park, and the best way to bet every race of the spring/summer meet. Available to horse players nationwide, the NYRA Bets app is available for download today on iOS and Android at www.NYRABets.com.

NYRA Triple Play, Sunday, July 10:

Leg A: Belmont Park, Race 6, allowance optional claiming (3:13 p.m. Eastern)

Leg B: Belmont Park, Race 7, allowance (3:47 p.m.)

Leg C: Belmont Park, Race 9, maiden claiming (4:51 p.m.)