The annual rite of summer in New York begins on Thursday.
New York sports betting smiles as the 40-day summer meet at historic Saratoga Race Course kicks off with a first post time of 1:10 p.m. It is highlighted by the traditional Grade 3, $175,000 Schuylerville for 2-year-old fillies (race 9 of the opening day 10-race card).
Saratoga’s meet, which runs Wednesdays through Sundays, will feature 71 stakes races worth $20.8 million in total purses and ends on Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 4.
The two gems of the meet are the 154th edition of the Grade 1, $1.25 million Travers on Saturday, Aug. 26 and the Grade 1, $1 million Whitney on Saturday, Aug. 5. The Travers Festival will offer six Grade 1 races from Wednesday, Aug. 23 through Saturday, Aug. 26. First post time for Travers Day is 11:40 a.m.
Whitney Day (12:35 p.m. first post) will have three Grade 1 races, led by the Whitney, which also offers an automatic berth to the Breeders’ Cup Classic on Nov. 4 at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif.
Belmont Meet Crowns Winners
Jockey Jose Ortiz edged brother, Irad Jr., 59-58, in victories to capture the riding title of the 40-day spring/summer meet at Belmont Park in Elmont, which ended on Sunday, July 9.
Jose, 29, who also won the 2021 Belmont spring/summer title with 59 wins, captured his fourth NYRA riding title and 12th overall crown.
He closed out the meet with a record of 246-59-44-38 with total purse earnings of $4,921,926 (23.98% win percentage, 57.32% in-the-money percentage).
Irad, who won 14 stakes, finished with a 213-58-34-23 record and Manny Franco finished third (223-31-37-41).
Trainer Linda Rice (140-34-18-23) won the training title (her fourth consecutive training title at a NYRA track, second of her career at Belmont after sharing the 2011 spring/summer meet with Todd Pletcher [25 wins] and 11ith overall). Her win ended the seven-year win streak of fellow trainer Chad Brown.
Belmont Park soon have a massive renovation, its first since 1968, thanks to a $455 million loan that was approved in the state’s Fiscal Year 2024 budget.
June Predictably Down in Sports Betting
The summer swoon was at play again this year as the handle and revenue at New York sports betting apps was down significantly from May.
Total mobile handle came in at $1.171 billion, which was down 14.1% from May.
Mobile revenue dropped an enormous 31.7%, to $103.828 million.
For the first time since mobile wagering became legal in January 2022, there was a new operator atop the handle standings.
DraftKings NY beat out FanDuel, which had won the previous 17 months.
