The annual Empire Showcase Day is Saturday, Oct. 24 at Belmont Park. The 11-race card includes eight stakes races for New York-bred horses with $1.2 million in purse money.
“The New York-breds are showing up all over the country and doing very, very well. A day like this, to show the rest of the world how good they are, is important,” said New York-based owner and trainer H. James Bond.
One of the best-ever New York-bred horses is Tiz the Law, who Kentucky Derby.
EMPIRE SHOWCASE STAKES
Here are the horses to watch and favorites to capture the eight stakes races on Empire Showcase Day at Belmont Park. Check out the Empire Showcase Wagering Guide for Races 2 and 3 at Horse Racing Radar.
The featured races, each with a $175,000 purse, are the Empire Distaff and Empire Classic.
Race 2: Made of the Mist Stakes — 2-year-old fillies, 1 mile
- Party at Page’s (9/5)
- Frost Me (5/2)
Race 3: Sleepy Hollow Stakes — 2-year-olds, 1 mile
- Hold the Salsa (5/2)
- Brean (3/1)
- Brooklyn Strong (7/2)
- Masked Marauder (4/1)
Race 4: Ticonderoga Stakes — fillies and mares, 1 1/16 miles on inner turf
- Myhartblongstodady (7/5)
- War Canoe (2/1)
- Wegetsdamunnys (5/2)
Race 6: Empire Distaff — fillies and mares, 1 1/16 miles
- Ratajkowski (2/1)
- Lucky Move (3/1)
Race 7: Hudson Handicap — 6 1/2 furlongs
- My Boy Tate (3/1)
- T Loves a Fight (4/1)
- Arthur’s Hope (4/1)
Race 8: Mohawk Stakes — 1 1/16 miles on turf
- Somelikeithotbrown (9/5)
- Cross Border (5/2)
- Rinaldi (3/1)
Race 9: Iroquois Stakes — fillies and mares, 6 1/2 furlongs
- Newly Minted (5/2)
- Fair Regis (9/2)
Race 10: Empire Classic — 1 1/8 miles
- Funny Guy (2/1)
- Mr. Buff (5/2)
- Sea Foam (4/1
CROSS COUNTRY PICK 5
A four-track Cross Country Pick 5 will highlight Saturday’s racing action, with Belmont Park, Keeneland Race Course, Monmouth Park and Woodbine Racetrack all part of the wager hosted by the New York Racing Association.
The two races included from Belmont Park are the Iroquois Stakes in Race 9 and the Empire Classic in Race 10. Also included is Race 8 at Woodbine, Race 11 at Monmouth Park and Race 9 at Keeneland.
The $125,000 Iroquois kicks off the Cross Country Pick 5 in Race 9 at 4:31 p.m. Eastern. A 10-horse field of fillies and mares 3 years old and up will contest at 6 1/2 furlongs over Big Sandy. Owners Chester and Mary Broman have won the last two years and will look for a third straight with homebred Spin a Yarn (8/1), a five-time winner from six starts.
Multiple stakes winners Funny Guy, Mr. Buff and Sea Foam will battle in a loaded renewal of the 9-furlong (1 1/8 miles) $175,000 Empire Classic for 3-year-olds and up in Race 10 at 5:05 p.m. Two Steve Asmussen-trained colts add to the contenders with Bankit and Chestertown, a $2 million purchase at the March 2019 OBS 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale.
A total of 109 New York-breds are entered for the special 11-race card on Saturday at Belmont Park to celebrate the best of New York for the annual Empire Showcase Day.
