Belmont Stakes highlights 54-day meet at Big Sandy

The spring-summer meet at Belmont Park will offer a highly lucrative stakes schedule (Joseph DiOrio/Horsephotos.com) Anchored by the 146th running of the $1.5 million Belmont Stakes on June 7, Belmont Park opens on Thursday, with world-class racing forming the backbone of the 54-day spring-summer meet and a host of improvements and special events to enhance the guest experience. The oldest and longest leg of racing’s elusive Triple Crown, the 1 1/2-mile Belmont this year will be supported by nine additional stakes including five prestigious Grade 1 events — $1.25 million Metropolitan Handicap, $1 million Ogden Phipps, $1 million Manhattan, $750,000 Just a Game and $750,000 Acorn. In total, the 13-race card will be worth $8 million, making New York’s Spring Championships the second-richest day on the North American racing calendar behind only Breeders’ Cup Saturday.

Guests will be able to experience the entire Triple Crown
series at Belmont Park beginning on Kentucky Derby Day, Saturday, May 3. Gates
will open at 10 a.m. (EDT) and fans can watch all the racing action from
Churchill Downs and root for their favorite horses in the Derby, as
well as enjoy the first two of 29 graded stakes during the Belmont meet, the
Beaugay and Fort Marcy, both $150,000 events on the turf.

Also on Derby Day, students from area schools will be
competing for prizes in the first “College Clash Showdown,” and guests will
receive a refrigerator magnet featuring key events during the meet, which runs
through July 13.

The sparkling Mother’s Day card on May 11 will include the $400,000
Man o’ War; $250,000 Ruffian; $150,000 Westchester; and $100,000 License Fee along with prize drawings and
giveaways after every race.

Memorial Day weekend begins on May 24, with the $200,000 Sheepshead Bay for turf distaffers and Belmont’s
first “Wings Festival and Contest,” where fans can sample the best chicken wings from area restaurants. Memorial Day, May 26,
offers a trio of stakes headlined by the $300,000 Poker.

One week before Belmont Stakes Day, Big Apple Showcase Day
on Saturday, May 31 will feature six stakes worth $900,000, all restricted to
New York-breds. The best of the Empire State also will be offered in the
grandstand on Saturday and Sunday with the return of the TasteNY Farmers’
Market, featuring local produce and products, for the weekend.

Belmont will hold its inaugural Stars & Stripes Day on July
5, featuring a pair of contests for three-year-olds on the grass — the $1.25
million Belmont Derby and $1 million Belmont Oaks.
Also on the card are the $500,000 Suburban Handicap; $400,000 Belmont Sprint Championship; and $200,000 Dwyer. Food
trucks and Family Fun Day are among the promotions that will ensure an
entertaining day for the whole family.

Former California mainstay Slim Shadey cuts back in trip for the opening day Elusive Quality (Benoit Photos) “Belmont Park is synonymous with great competition, and our racing team, led by Senior Vice President of Racing Operations Martin Panza and Racing Secretary Frank Gabriel Jr., is working every day with the goal of making the 2014 spring/summer meet the best ever,” New York Racing Association CEO and President Chris Kay said. “All who visit Belmont during the spring-summer meet will enjoy a more intimate and exciting experience and terrific guest-focused improvements and promotions.” Beginning on Opening Day, guests will be greeted by a wide array of improvements, including 131 new HD televisions throughout the facility, as well as new HD screens in second-floor box seats for improved viewing of live and simulcast racing. Near the paddock, a new 8′ by 15′ video display wall has been installed by the walking ring offering enhanced, HD picture quality. The Belmont Café on the first floor of the clubhouse has been modernized with new tables and chairs, and the Top of the Stretch picnic area is being expanded with two additional sections.

The popular “Breakfast at Belmont” program, which enables
families to enjoy good food at very reasonable prices while watching the horses
train in the morning, is available every weekend and holiday during the meet,
with the exception of Belmont Stakes weekend.

Twilight racing returns for four Fridays — June 20, June
27, July 4 and July 11 — with a special first race post time of 3 p.m. First
race post time at Belmont Park generally will be 1:20 p.m., with the exception
of the twilight racing cards, Derby and Preakness Day, when the first race goes
off at noon, and Belmont Stakes Day, when the first race will go off at 11:35
a.m.

Admission to both the grandstand and clubhouse at Belmont
Park is only $5, excluding Belmont Stakes Day, when grandstand admission is $10
and clubhouse admission is $30. Information on special hospitality packages and
seats for Belmont Stakes Day may be found by clicking

here.

The feature on Thursday’s opening day card is the $100,000

Elusive Quality for older horses contested over seven furlongs on the
Widener turf.

Making his debut with trainer David Jacobson is Slim Shadey, a six-year-old
who was a three-time Grade 2 winner in California for previous conditioner Simon
Callaghan. The Elusive Quality represents a significant step back in trip for
the Val Royal gelding, who was a commonly a front runner in 1 1/4-mile events
out west.

Other graded stakes winners in the lineup are Havelock, a past winner of the
Shakertown and Woodford at Keeneland, the Hanshin Cup at Arlington, and the Play
the King at Woodbine, and Black Onyx, who makes his turf debut after winning
three of his first five outings. The Rock Hard Ten colt is returning from a
spell of more than 13 months following a 15-1 upset of the 2013 Spiral at
Turfway Park.

Also likely to attract play are stakes winners Summer Breezing and Bio Pro,
Knickerbocker Handicap runner-up Plainview, and the New York-bred
course-and-distance specialist Non Stop.

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