By Teresa Genaro, Brooklyn
Backstretch
This Saturday is New York Showcase Day at Belmont; seven New York-bred stakes races
will be run for more than a million dollar in purses, and a variety of
family-friendly activities are planned, including hay rides, face painting, and
pumpkin carving.
The prevalence of state-bred races on New York race cards is often the object of
the derision of bettors, who bemoan their quality and the difficulty in
handicapping them. As a fan and a New
Yorker, I welcome their presence, looking forward to Showcase Day each
fall.
Any registered New
York foal with properly filed papers is eligible to
run in these races, and they offer a variety of conditions: the Maid of the Mist is for two-year-old
fillies; the Mohawk is a mile and an eighth on the turf; the Empire Classic is
a mile and an eighth on the dirt. Each
of the seven races' names carries with it historical, geographical, or cultural
associations.
According to Jeffrey Cannizzo, executive director of New
York Thoroughbred Breeders, Showcase Day provides an opportunity to celebrate
the New York
breeding and racing program, offering some of the most prominent New York-bred
races of the year. Just as winners of
the Breeders' Cup races often go on to win Eclipse Awards, winners of these
races are often featured prominently in the end of year New York State
racing awards.
In response to those who decry the quality of New York-bred
horses, Cannizzo points to the fact that through September of 2008, 25 New
York-breds have won 31 stakes races outside of restricted company at 17 tracks
in 10 states, Canada, and England.
One of this year's state-bred stars is Tin Cup Chalice, who
raced mostly at Finger Lakes in central New York
but who became the first horse to capture the Big Apple Triple--the Mike Lee at
Belmont, the New York Derby at Finger Lakes, and
the Albany at Saratoga-earning a $250,000 bonus for having
done so. He went on to win the Grade II
Indiana Derby at Hoosier
Park, defeating multiple
graded-stakes winner Pyro.
As a New Yorker, I'm proud of the long history of racing in
this state, and it makes sense to have races that direct purse money into the
breeding program, thereby strengthening it.
As a fan, I appreciate the state-bred program because it means that
there are horses that I get to watch all year round. As horses bred elsewhere jet around the
country to chase purse money, or head south in the winter to enjoy warmer
climes, the state-breds I watch at
Saratoga in the summer stick around to race at Aqueduct, giving me horses to
root for and to head to the track to see through the winter months.
They don't generally retire at three, so fans can enjoy them while the
higher-profile horses head off to the breeding shed. And of course, the New York State
breeding program yielded Funny Cide and Commentator.
It's great to go to the races and watch the stars race in
Grade I stakes; as this week has shown, though, those stars are often around
only long enough for us to get attached before they're taken off the track. Come out to Belmont on Saturday and pick out a few horses
to follow; chances are, they'll be around next year, too.
Teresa Genaro writes about New York
racing at Brooklyn
Backstretch.
