Susie Raisher Photo

Pioneering Spirit puts four-race win streak to test in G1 Sword Dancer

by NYRA Press Ofiice

• Pioneering Spirit puts four-race win streak to test in G1 Sword Dancer
• Speedy graded stakes-placed One in Vermillion taking a shot in G1 Allen Jerkens
• Contessa hopes to end Spa meet on a strong note with Becky's Joker and Nutella Fella
• New York-bred stakes-winner Granny’s Connection retired
• Englehart represented by two contenders on Sunday’s New York Showcase Day card
• Mage will attempt to make 382 CMNWLTH investors proud in G1 Travers
• Sunday’s all state-bred stakes Cross Country Pick 5 to feature racing from Monmouth Park and Saratoga Race Course

A winner of four straight races since being put back on the grass this spring, A. Bianco Holding Limited’s 4-year-old gelding Pioneering Spirit will face stakes company for the first time Saturday at Saratoga Race Course in the Grade 1, $750,000 Resorts World Casino Sword Dancer.

A “Win and You’re In” qualifier for the Grade 1, $4 million Breeders’ Cup Turf November 4 at Santa Anita, the 1 1/2-mile Sword Dancer comes three days after Pioneering Spirit was originally scheduled to make his stakes debut in Wednesday’s $135,000 John’s Call, where he was the program favorite but scratched.

“My client, John Bianco, is from Canada and he was really excited. He said, ‘It’s been my dream to run in a race on Travers Day, and we’re excited about having a chance,’ so we passed on the John’s Call. He’s bringing his whole family down from Canada for the day,” trainer Linda Rice said. “It’s a terrific day to run a horse.”

By 2015 Triple Crown champion American Pharoah, Pioneering Spirit is a grandson of Giant’s Causeway, who won five Group 1 races on the grass in Europe in 2000 to be named Cartier Horse of the Year. Claimed for $40,000 out of a runner-up finish March 24 at Aqueduct, Pioneering Spirit hadn’t raced on turf since his juvenile season when he was fourth on debut in July 2021 at The Curragh and sixth in an Aqueduct maiden special weight that December after coming to the U.S.

“It had been a year and half since he ran on the turf,” Rice said. “It was very young in his career and now he’s 4. When I got him he was pretty sore behind and wasn’t breaking well from the gate. As soon as I switched him to the turf he got over those breaking problems, got over the discomfort. I think he was just struggling with the surface.

“He’s been just a terrific little horse,” she added. “When we claimed him he had been running on the dirt and he’d had a long six-month layoff, and his races on the dirt had been just ordinary. With his pedigree, I switched him over to the turf and he’s just taken off. He loves it, and he looks like one of those unusual horses that can handle longer distances. He relishes it. It’s very unique as far as I’m concerned.”

Pioneering Spirit graduated in a one-mile maiden claimer May 11 at Belmont Park, his 13th start and first back on the grass. He returned to win a pair of allowance events 20 days apart respectively going nine and 10 furlongs, and stepped up to capture a 1 3/8-mile second-level optional claimer July 27 at Saratoga.

“When we started the meet, he won the maiden, the starter and the a-other-than at Belmont. He came up here and got through the two-other-than pretty gracefully,” Rice said. “Each race has been at a longer distance. We’ve been gradually giving him longer distances and he seems to be thriving on that, so we’ll give it a go.”

Pioneering Spirit drew Post 5 of seven in the Sword Dancer and is listed at morning-line odds of 8-1. Among the competition are 6-5 program favorite Stone Age, third by less than a length in the Grade 1 Belmont Derby July 9, and multi-millionaire Channel Maker, running for the sixth time in the Sword Dancer, a race he won in 2020.

“It looks pretty tough, but it’s Saratoga,” Rice said. “It’s a big step up in company but it’s something that my client was really excited about doing.”

A Sword Dancer victory would put an exclamation point on what has been an outstanding meet for Rice, whose 25 wins through 31 days are second only to Chad Brown’s 29 heading into Friday's card. Already she has won five more races than she did when she became the first and still only female to lead the Saratoga trainer standings in 2009.

That year Rice edged Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher by one win with 20; in the 13 years since, it has taken an average of 37.7 wins to lead the Spa standings. Six times the winner had 40 or more including Brown’s record of 46 in 2018.

“Times have changed. The so-called super trainer barns got bigger and bigger and the top end of the trainer standings doubled,” Rice said. “Any way you look at it, it’s been a good meet, and Belmont was very good, as well, so I can’t complain. It’s been a good year for us.”

Rice has horses entered in five races Saturday and six on Sunday’s New York Showcase Day program including Amanda’s Folly and Ichiban in the $200,000 Fleet Indian, Sheriff Bianco and Un Ojo are both MTOs in the $200,000 West Point presented by Trustco Bank and El Grande O in the $200,000 Funny Cide presented by Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital.

“There are some tough spots in there, but we’re proud to be able to take part in races like these,” Rice said.

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Speedy graded stakes-placed One in Vermillion taking a shot in G1 Allen Jerkens

Jonathan Kalman’s graded stakes-placed One in Vermillion galloped for the second straight day Friday since arriving mid-week from Canterbury Park ahead of his Saratoga Race Course debut in Saturday’s Grade 1, $500,000 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial.

Trainer Esteban ‘Steve’ Martinez vanned One in Vermillion from the Shakopee, Minn. track to Saratoga, a 20-hour trip that included an overnight stop in Ohio. He has been pleased with how the 3-year-old Army Mule colt has taken to the track and settled in with his new surroundings.

“He likes it pretty good. I thought he got a hold of it even better today,” Martinez said. “He relaxes everywhere I take him. He likes seeing everything. He thinks he’s at home. He doesn’t get too excited. He’s a really good shipper.”

Martinez, who has galloped One in Vermillion himself, is cutting the California-bred back to seven furlongs off a third-place finish in the Grade 3 West Virginia Derby going 1 1/8 miles August 6 at Mountaineer Park, where he was beaten three lengths by Red Route One.

It is a move the connections have made before, when One in Vermillion cruised to a front-running 5 1/4-length triumph in the Laz Barrera May 6 at Santa Anita four weeks after he finished fifth in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby, both times racing in the name of trainer Eric Kruljac.

“The last time we did it he won for fun, so it should be good,” Martinez said. “These are a different kind of horses, but we’ll see. He is all speed. I trust him. I know he’s going to try.”

One in Vermillion won the Turf Paradise Open Spring Futurity, Lost in the Fog Juvenile and Riley Allison Derby, the latter going one mile at Sunland Park, in successive starts to earn him a shot at the Grade 3, 1 1/8-mile Sunland Derby March 26, finishing fifth.

After returning from California, One in Vermillion beat older horses in an open six-furlong allowance June 3 and was second, beaten 1 1/2 lengths, in the one-mile Canterbury Park Derby, his lone turf start. Prior to his most recent start, he dead-heated for first in the 1 1/16-mile Iowa Derby July 8 at Prairie Meadows but was disqualified and placed second for interference.

One in Vermillion drew Post 2 in the Jerkens, a compact but quality field of six that includes Grade 1 Woody Stephens presented by Mohegan Sun winner Arabian Lion and Grade 3 Dwyer winner Fort Bragg, both trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, and New York Thunder, undefeated winner of the Grade 2 Amsterdam July 28 at Saratoga.

Saratoga’s leading rider, Irad Ortiz Jr., has signed on to ride One in Vermillion from post 2 in place of injured Luis Saez.

“We’re excited to be here,” Martinez said. “I know we are in a pretty tough spot, but we have to try. I like the horse. He tries all the time. He fights hard and we’ve got the best rider on him, so we’ll see what happens.”

This is the first time in Saratoga for the 54-year-old Martinez, who came to the U.S. from Mexico at 16 and worked as an exercise rider before turning to breaking and training horses. He currently has 20 horses stabled at Canterbury.

“I was the trainer in charge for Eric Kruljac and I still help him with breaking horses. I’ve been breaking his horses for 30 years,” Martinez said. “When I first started with this one when we were breaking him, I thought he was going to be good but not like this. Every once in a while you get a good one.

“[Saratoga] is a lot different,” he added. “I never expected to be here in a race like this. This is the best horse I’ve ever had. I’m excited. We’ll do what we can.”

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Contessa hopes to end Spa meet on a strong note with Becky's Joker and Nutella Fella

Lee Pokoik's Becky's Joker, who is targeting next Sunday's Grade 1, $300,000 Spinaway, made a memorable debut with a 21-1 upset in the Grade 3 Schuylerville on July 13 at the Spa.

Trained by Gary Contessa and piloted by Hall of Famer Javier Castellano, the 2-year-old daughter of Practical Joke rallied from fourth in the six-furlong Schuylerville to post a 3 1/4-length score and garner a lofty 75 Beyer Speed Figure.

Contessa’s past Spa graded wins include the 2007 Grade 3 Saranac with Mission Approved and the 2018 Grade 1 Spinaway with the Pokoik-owned Sippican Harbor, but the conditioner said Becky’s Joker’s debut was particularly memorable.

“It's something other people don't do. I always look outside the box. I truly believe that in order to succeed you have to endure a lot of failures,” Contessa said. “I've had plenty of failures with my crazy, outside the box ideas but then again the successes are tremendous and this is one that was tremendous. She was checking off every box - she had the works, the mental capacity, just everything about her was right, so why not take the shot.”

The victory was Contessa’s first here since 2019 and occurred on his return to saddling horses at the Spa after having worked as a private trainer and general manager for Nick Beaver’s Bell Gable Stable.

The 16.3 hands high Becky’s Joker followed with a flat performance when seventh in the 6 1/2-furlong Grade 3 Adirondack on August 6 here, leading Contessa to believe the filly may have been in heat.

“The other day she just threw us a curve on the day of the race. Mentally, she was not right. Her temperature was normal, everything was fine - no sickness. Everything was good, but I was seeing subtle little messages,” Contessa said. “She had come into heat that day as well and we wrote it off. I'm not sure if that's 100 percent accurate - a lot of fillies will run when they're in heat and some won't.

“We went over her medically from top to bottom and we couldn't find anything wrong with her,” he added. “Young horses do throw you curves and do things you can't quite explain.”

Becky’s Joker breezed back a sharp half-mile in 47.85 seconds August 19 under exercise rider M.C. Brock and Contessa said the filly appears to be back in full flight.

“She had a great work and will probably work again tomorrow. She’s been 100 percent and training forwardly,” Contessa said. “That was a maintenance breeze. Becky's Joker's easy 50 is a 47 and 4. She does that with ease. She has that huge stride and that was well within her wheelhouse.”

Bred in Kentucky by Warren J. Harang, Becky’s Joker is out of the Elusive Quality mare Becky’s Best – a half-sister to graded stakes winner Vertical Oak, the dam of graded stakes-placed sophomore Giant Mischief.

Contessa will also be represented in stakes action on Closing Weekend by Bell Gable Stable’s maiden winner Nutella Fella, who is pointed to the seven-furlong Grade 1, $300,000 Hopeful on Labor Day.

The Runhappy colt, previously trained by Richard Sillaman, earned a 65 Beyer for a 2 1/4-length maiden score traveling 5 1/2-furlongs on July 26 at Delaware Park.

“I manage Bell Gable Stable and the minute he broke his maiden they sent him to me for the Hopeful,” Contessa said. “There's a horse that did everything wrong. He was bad in the paddock, he was bad in the gate. He was bad warming up and he stumbled coming out of the gate. He trailed the field and looped them at will and drew off.”

The $12,000 Keeneland September Yearling Sale purchase has breezed back three times over the Oklahoma training track, including a five-eighths effort in 1:01.85 August 19.

“We've schooled him in the paddock and schooled him in the gate. Hopefully, I have him over all the things he did wrong first time out,” Contessa said. “He's an interesting horse. We don't know how good he is, but he did everything wrong and won. His works have been excellent.”

Nutella Fella, bred in Kentucky by Ashview Farm, is out of the Candy Ride mare Krissy’s Candy, who is a half-sister to the graded stakes-placed duo Danny Boy and Meal Penalty.

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New York-bred stakes-winner Granny’s Connection retired

Trainer Tom Morley reported that stakes-winning New York-bred Grannys Connection has been retired.

Owned by Orpen Horses, Jack Hardin Towell, Jr. and Alan Griffin, Grannys Connection was last seen posting a 1 1/2-length stakes triumph in the Union Avenue on August 11 going six furlongs at Saratoga Race Course. The bay daughter of Connect will go out with a 7-5-2-0 record, posting open-lengths triumphs at Aqueduct Racetrack over the winter before defeating open allowance optional claiming company at Monmouth Park. She finished a close second in the Dancin Renee on June 25 at Belmont Park.

“She’s not hurt, but she had some minor skeletal changes on x-ray after her last race,” Morley said. “She’s accomplished everything we could have possibly asked of her. Erring on the side of caution, she’s been retired. She’s in Kentucky at her owner’s farm in a paddock. I am thrilled for her that she went out on the note she went out on. Obviously, a little sad that we don’t get to carry on our journey together, but she’s been a superstar for the barn, and I wish her all the luck in the world in having her babies.”

Grannys Connection, bred in the Empire State by the late Paul Pompa, Jr., is out of the six-time winning Old Fashioned mare Grannys Drink and was purchased for $57,000 at the 2022 OBS March Sale. She retired with earnings of $268,050.

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Englehart represented by two contenders on Sunday’s New York Showcase Day card

Trainer Jeremiah Englehart, who enjoyed great success with Maple Leaf Mel in the Seeking the Ante on last year’s New York Showcase Day card, returns again this year with a pair of talented contenders in two separate stakes events on Sunday’s lucrative 11-race program at Saratoga Race Course.  

Neal Allread and Dan Langlais’ homebred Leo and Royal is set to take on the featured $250,000 Albany, a nine-furlong test for sophomores, while Tricky Temper looks to provide Englehart with back-to-back wins in the $200,000 Seeking the Ante, a six-furlong sprint for juvenile fillies.

“I think New York-breds have made their case in open company as well, and it’s nice to have that one day during the meet where you get to showcase all the New York-breds,” said Englehart. “It’s a special day. It’s Saratoga and the program is important to the state. It’s nice to see all the familiar faces that come out for the day.”

Leo and Royal, a chestnut son of Alpha, invades from Finger Lakes Racetrack off a runner-up effort in a one-mile and 70-yard allowance on August 1 where he finished 11 lengths back of runaway winner Amedeus Music after lacking room to the inside of rivals in the turn and angling wide to get up just in time for place.

“He got a really tough trip,” said Englehart. “It was a race we wanted to be aggressive with and he got stuck behind a wall of horses. He’s a horse that’s got a lot of ability, but he’s still green and immature on some things. We’re taking a shot in this race, and I think eventually he is going to be a New York-bred stake horse. He trains very nice and like a horse who’s got a lot of potential. He just might need some seasoning.”

Leo and Royal entered his latest effort off a pair of wins at the Farmington oval, including a frontrunning graduation at second asking in May and an off-the-pace triumph against winners on July 10. He is out of the Englehart-trained and Allread-owned Ecton Park mare Clean Jean, who won the 1 1/16-mile Jack Betta Be Rite in 2014 at Finger Lakes.

Tyler Gaffalione will ride from post 1 on Sunday.

Englehart is in search of his fourth victory in the Seeking the Ante after sending out Party Like Grandma [2018], Samborella [2020] and Maple Leaf Mel. The veteran conditioner said this event has become a mainstay in his planning for his juvenile fillies each year, and that to win it again would be special.

“It’s a nice race and you get a couple of these races that you really enjoy,” said Englehart. “When you’ve won a race multiple times, you kind of look forward to it. It’s always a spot we try and circle with our fillies.”

Mark Stanley’s Tricky Temper gives Englehart a strong chance at victory once again as she enters from an eye-catching 4 3/4-length score in an off-the-turf state-bred maiden sprinting 5 1/2 furlongs on August 9. The Into Mischief bay was off a step slow and trailed three lengths off the pace at the three-eighths call, but showed a strong turn of foot under Hall of Famer John Velazquez to sweep by her rivals at the top of the stretch and draw clear to complete the course in 1:06.12.

“She’s doing well since she won and is training forwardly,” said Englehart. “I’m not sure if she’s dirt or turf yet, but she’s training very well coming into here. She struggled with getting the starting gate down, but she’s picked it up every time she’s gone out there. She had shown ability and I was not surprised she won first time out.”

Tricky Temper has had one work since her win, covering a half-mile in 49.77 seconds on August 20 over the Oklahoma dirt training track.

“She’s still green and still learning, and the most impressive thing about her first race was how she came out of it,” Englehart said. “She came out of it acting like she knows what she’s doing and like she wants to do more.”

Bred by Sequel Thoroughbreds and Lakland Farm, Tricky Temper was a $230,000 purchase at the OBS Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training where she breezed an eighth of a mile in 10.1 seconds. She is out of the multiple stakes-winning Any Given Saturday mare Winter Book.

Velazquez retains the mount from post 4.

***

Mage will attempt to make 382 CMNWLTH investors proud in G1 Travers

Mage gave his 382 CMNWLTH investors an experience they will always cherish when he captured the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs. CMNWLTH co-founder Chase Chamberlain is hopeful that the handsome chestnut colt can provide another whirlwind experience for the shareholders in Saturday’s 154th running of the Grade 1, $1.25 million Travers at Saratoga Race Course.

Mage, trained by Gustavo Delgado, will attempt to be the first Kentucky Derby winner to add a Travers triumph to his resume since Street Sense kept Grasshopper at bay in deep stretch in 2007. The Good Magic colt was a game second to returning rival Forte in the Grade 1 Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park before earning the garland of roses on the First Saturday in May. He has since finished third in the Grade 1 Preakness at Pimlico Race Course two months before running a hard-fought second in the Grade 1 Haskell at Monmouth Park.

Mage was bought for $290,000 at the 2022 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale by OGMA Investments, headed by assistant trainer Gustavo Delgado, Jr., and Ramiro Restrepo. He is also owned by Sam Hershberger’s Sterling Racing.

CMNWLTH, launched by Chamberlain and Brian Doxtator in 2021, is a platform that offers shares of thoroughbreds starting at $50 per unit.

CMNWLTH previously partnered with WinStar Farm and Zedan Racing Stables’ Country Grammer, who captured last year’s Group 1 Dubai World Cup at Meydan Racecourse and has banked earnings of nearly $15 million. They also partnered on graded stakes-winner We the People.

Recently, CMNWLTH has branched out and now offer shares of PGA golfers Joey Vrzich and Cooper Dossey.

“We started in horse racing and that’s gone over incredibly well for us. People were able to invest in Country Grammer, who is now the fifth highest earning thoroughbred of all time and then, of course, Kentucky Derby winner Mage, all for $50 a share,” Chamberlain said. “Those involved are from all over the country and all over the world. I think we have around 13 countries involved, but most people are from America. The average investor spends about three to four hundred dollars. Some have a single share, others have over $10,000 of shares. Most people are average age about 36, so it’s a younger audience. Recently, we’ve moved into golf as well and that’s just the beginning of our expansion.”

Chamberlain said that his love for horses combined with Doxtator’s affinity for golf were the ingredients to a prosperous recipe.

“When he and I founded the company, it wasn’t immediately obvious we were going to do golf, but the beauty of this whole thing is horses are my lifelong passion and Brian is a scratch golfer,” Chamberlain said. “I’m a lifelong horse guy that started riding when I was four. So, these are the two sports that we’re the most passionate about. To have the two co-founders be aligned with their favorite sports that they not only deeply care about, but also know a lot about made for a match made in heaven.”

Chamberlain met Restrepo at the Travers several years ago, which was just the beginning stages of a great partnership.

“In my experience, horses are the best at connecting folks, so it’s pretty serendipitous that he and I met at Saratoga on Travers day,” Chamberlain recalled. “This is when Brian and I were first starting CMNWLTH. A lot of it was just a dream. We had built our app and business model, but we were in stealth mode, we didn’t have users. We told him our plan and years later he reached out and the first horse we partner on is a Kentucky Derby winner. Every step has been excellent with Ramiro and Gustavo, we love those guys.”

Chamberlain recalled Restrepo telling him about a young Mage during the sale.

“Right after Ramiro and Gustavo bought him at auction, Ramiro called me and told me they had a tag on him available. Others were called before us and ultimately passed on him,” Chamberlain said. “I like to put eyes and hands on a horse before we purchase them or commit. I loved the look of the colt and I saw the breeze video and liked what I saw. A couple weeks later, I went over to look at him and said, ‘OK, we’re in.’”

Chamberlain described Mage as a “spitting image” of his sire Good Magic, who earned Champion 2-Year-Old Colt honors in 2017 before winning the following year’s Haskell. Good Magic, a son of Curlin, finished ninth in the 2018 Travers in his final career start.

“At the time I wouldn’t have told you he’d be a Kentucky Derby winner, but I did believe that he’d be a stakes quality horse,” Chamberlain said. “He had so much quality to him, he looked so much like his Dad and his breeze at the sale was so impressive. He just had something about him when you look at him, especially at that point.

“He’s got a great shoulder, he’s built like a bull,” Chamberlain continued. “He has a great head and he looked like he was going to be fast, and thankfully we were right. I think more than anything, on the softer side, he had an incredible look in his eye. He has a really intelligent eye.”

While offerings on all CMNWLTH-owned horses are closed, Chamberlain will be at the 2023 Keeneland September Yearling Sale as well as sales abroad in search of their next superstar.

“We’re going to start getting into hyperdrive mode here soon with sales season kicking into high gear," Chamberlain said. "We’ll be active at the European sales as well purchasing horses with some very exciting partnerships. So, we’ll have a lot of new horses coming to CMNWLTH over the next couple of months.

Restrepo spoke volumes of his experience in partnering with CMNWLTH.

“[Gustavo Delgado, Jr.] and I have been working the sales and buying horses for several years now. This is the only horse we own together with CMNWLTH and Sam Hershberg, but they’ve been fantastic,” Restrepo said. “Brian and Chase are young guys that have success with their business early on with Country Grammer and We the People. It just goes to show that they put themselves in great partnerships and have had some success in their short time. It’s been a seamless journey with them. We’re all really enjoying this ride. It helps when you have a horse of this caliber.”

Restrepo compared Mage’s campaign to the Olympics and said he’s earned a medal in his last four starts.

“If this was the Olympics and we’re sitting here with medals, we have a Kentucky Derby gold, a Haskell silver, a Florida Derby silver and a Preakness bronze. Those are only things you can dream of if you were an Olympian,” Restrepo said. “Here we are with a horse giving us all medals and all amazing rides of our life. It’s been a harmonious beautiful moment and we want to continue this ride as far as he can take us.”

***

Sunday’s all state-bred stakes Cross Country Pick 5 to feature racing from Monmouth Park and Saratoga Race Course

The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) will host an all state-bred stakes Cross Country Pick 5 on Sunday featuring racing from the New Jersey Thoroughbred Festival card from Monmouth Park and New York Showcase Day at Saratoga Race Course.

The Cross Country Pick 5 requires bettors to pick the winner of five select races from tracks across the country. The minimum bet for the multi-track, multi-race wager is 50 cents. Wagering on the Cross Country Pick 5 is available on ADW platforms and at simulcast facilities across the country with each week featuring a mandatory payout of the net pool.

The Cross Country Pick 5, boasting a low 15 percent takeout, offers sequences with races from Saratoga Race Course and partner tracks across the country.

Free Equibase past performances for the Cross Country Pick 5 sequence will be available for download at https://www.nyra.com/saratoga/racing/cross-country-wagers.

Cross Country Pick 5 – Sunday, August 27

Leg A: Saratoga - Race 3, $200K West Point presented by Trustco Bank (2:16 p.m. Eastern)

Leg B: Saratoga - Race 5, Yaddo Handicap (3:22 p.m.)

Leg C: Monmouth - Race 7, $100K New Jersey Breeders H. (3:26 p.m.)

Leg D: Monmouth – Race 9, $100K Eleven North H. (4:24 p.m.)

Leg E: Saratoga – Race 10, $250K Albany (6:14 p.m.)

Saratoga Live will present daily coverage and analysis of the summer meet at Saratoga Race Course on the networks of FOX Sports. For the complete broadcast schedule, visit https://www.nyra.com/saratoga/racing/tv-schedule.

NYRA Bets is the best way to bet every race of the Belmont 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.