Belmont spring/summer meet starts Thursday
The lucrative Belmont Park spring/summer meet, featuring 59 stakes races worth $16.95 million in total purses, kicks off Thursday with a nine-race card and a first post of 1:20 p.m. EDT. The 44-day meet runs through July 10.
The Belmont spring/summer meet will offer 12 Grade 1 events highlighted by the three-day Belmont Stakes Racing Festival June 9-11.
The festival will encompass 17 total stakes, including eight Grade 1s on Belmont Stakes Day, capped by the $1.5 million "test of the champion" for 3-year-olds in the 1 1/2-mile final leg of the Triple Crown.
Last year, Chad Brown registered 32 victories to finish as leading trainer at the Belmont spring/summer meet for the sixth consecutive year. Jose Ortiz won the riding title with 59 victories, while Klaravich Stables led all owners with 11 wins during the 48-day meet.
The 2021 Belmont Park spring/summer meet generated $632,208,251 in all-sources handle with an average daily handle of $13,171,005. The Belmont Stakes Day card, highlighted by Essential Quality’s victory in the 153rd running of the $1.5 million Belmont Stakes, generated all-sources handle of $112,725,278; a NYRA record for a non-Triple Crown year.
Average field size over 454 races at the 2021 Belmont spring/summer meet was 7.6.
New to Belmont Park
The jockey colony will be bolstered by the arrival of West Coast raider Flavien Prat.
Prat, an Eclipse Award-finalist in 2021, made his presence felt last summer at Belmont by winning the Manhattan (G1) with Domestic Spending, the Wonder Again (G3) aboard Con Lima and the Victory Ride (G3) on Souper Sensational. He also guided Hot Rod Charlie to a runner-up finish in the Belmont Stakes.
?A perennial leading rider at Santa Anita Park, Prat is a three-time Breeders’ Cup winner, and his resume includes Classic scores in the Kentucky Derby (Country House, via disqualification in 2019) and Preakness (2021, Rombauer).
Prat is expected to join the Belmont colony after the Kentucky Derby.
New wager
A unique Pick 3, featuring a $3 bet minimum, will be available on Sundays only. The NYRA Triple Play will launch May 1, the first Sunday of the Belmont spring/summer meet, and will not be available to customers using computer-assisted wagering programs.
The $3 Pick 3 wager requires bettors to select the first-place finisher of three designated races on the card. Every week will feature a mandatory payout of the net pool. Wagering on the NYRA Triple Play also is available on ADW platforms and at simulcast facilities across the country.
Takeout rates
Win, place and show: 16 percent
Pick 5 wagering: 15 percent
Daily Double, quinella and exacta: 18.5 percent
Trifecta, Superfecta, Pick 3, Pick 4 and Grand Slam: 24 percent
Pick 6: 15 percent (24 percent on carryover days)