Belmont fall meet commences; Bowling Green highlights
opener
With 21 graded stakes worth $5 million, Belmont Park’s fall meet will
showcase a stellar lineup of champions-in-the-making when it opens for its
37-day meet on Saturday with free grandstand admission all
weekend.
Opening Saturday also marks the first $300,000 Guaranteed Late Pick 4, which will be offered on Saturdays
throughout the 2011 fall meet.
The meet’s superb Grade 1 schedule is highlighted by Super Saturday, October
1, and the 93rd running of the $750,000 Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1). Last year, older male champion
Blame ran in the 1 1/4-mile fixture before going on to upset Zenyatta in the
Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1).
The day also features the
$350,000 Beldame Invitational (G1) for fillies and mares, the $350,000 Vosburgh
Invitational (G1) for sprinters, the $500,000 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Invitational
(G1),
and the $500,000 Flower Bowl Invitational (G1) for fillies and mares on the
turf, as well as the Kelso H. (G2) at a mile on the main track.
All the Super Saturday graded stakes races are Breeders’ Cup Challenge races,
which means the winners earn automatic entry into the corresponding Breeders’
Cup races.
On Super Saturday, NYRA will offer a $500,000 Guaranteed Pick 4.
The stellar weekend continues on October 2, with a quartet of races for two-year-olds: the Nashua
S. (G2) at six furlongs on the
main track and the Pilgrim S. (G3) at 1 1/16 miles on the turf, along with the
Tempted S. (G3) for fillies at six furlongs and the Miss Grillo S. (G3) for fillies going 1 1/16 miles on the turf.
Juveniles take center stage again on October 8 with the $300,000
Champagne S. (G1) and the $300,000 Frizette S. (G1) for fillies, which are joined by
the $250,000 Jamaica H. (G1) for three-year-olds going 1 1/8 miles on the turf.
New York-breds get their chance to shine on New York Showcase Day, October 22, with seven stakes for the top horses bred in the Empire State,
capped by the $200,000 Empire Classic.
A field of seven will line up for the first stakes of the meet, Saturday’s
$150,000
Bowling Green H. (G2). With late-week showers expected to linger through the
first half of the weekend, the chances of the 1 3/8-mile Bowling Green being
contested on less-than-firm turf is a strong possibility. That might benefit the
German import SANAGAS (Ger) (Lomitas [GB]), who moved up dramatically in his
second U.S. appearance in the August 5 John’s Call S. at Saratoga. Under Rajiv
Maragh, the gelding effortlessly overcame a slow pace to win by 2 1/4 lengths
while wearing blinkers for the first time.
GRASSY (El Prado [Ire]) has been winless in four starts since taking the Red
Smith H. (G2) at Aqueduct last November but has typically run well over the
Belmont turf, owning a mark of 6-2-1-2. He narrowly missed by a neck in the
Singspiel S. (Can-G3) at Woodbine two back, then was an even fourth behind a
lone speed at the same course’s Sky Classic S. (Can-G2) last month.
Grade 3 veteran SAL THE BARBER (Alphabet Soup) makes his return to action
after taking much of the summer off. Third in the Fort Marcy S. (G3) at Belmont
in May, he was next sixth of seven in a compact finish to the Monmouth S. (G3).
CENTER DIVIDER (Giant’s Causeway) and BOLD HAWK (Silver Hawk), who finished
behind Sanagas in the John’s Call, have each been winless on turf for some time.
Center Divider captured an allowance on Polytrack earlier this year but is
winless on grass since April 2010. Bold Hawk’s last victory of any kind was in
the 2007 Hawthorne Derby (G3), though the gelding was out of action nearly three
years from late 2007 until the fall of last season.
The Bowling Green field is rounded out by KINDERGARDEN KID (Dyanformer),
fifth in the John’s Call, and last-out Saratoga allowance winner COLONIALISM
(Empire Maker).
With live racing generally conducted Wednesdays through Sundays, with a first
race post time of 1 p.m. (ET), grandstand admission is $3 after opening weekend.
Clubhouse admission is $5, while children 12 and under are admitted free when
accompanied by an adult. General parking is free, with preferred parking $2 and
valet parking $5.
Belmont Park is easily accessible by public transportation, including the
Long Island Rail Road’s
“Belmont Special,” which offers riders $1 off grandstand
admission to the track. On Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays (and Columbus Day,
October 10), the Belmont Special will depart Penn Station at 10:58 a.m.
and 11:46 a.m., and on weekends at 10:58 a.m. and 11:51 a.m. Return service on
weekdays and Columbus Day leaves Belmont Park at 3:42 p.m. and again 30 minutes
after the last race; on weekends at 4:27 p.m. and 30 minutes after the last
race.
For information on the Belmont Park fall meet, please visit
www.nyra.com or call (516) 488-6000.