Sunday, May 13, 2012
Contact: Ashley Herriman
aherriman@nyrainc.com
PREAKNESS, BLACK-EYED SUSAN SIMULCAST AVAILABLE AT BELMONT AND AQUEDUCT; DONOVAN TO HOST PREAKNESS PREVIEW LIVE CHAT FRIDAY
ELMONT, N.Y. – Live Triple Crown action returns to New York on June 9 with the 144th running of the Grade 1, $1 million Belmont Stakes. On May 18 and 19, Belmont Park and Aqueduct Racetrack are the best places to watch simulcast action from Pimlico Race Course, home of the second jewel of the Triple Crown, in addition to quality live racing in New York.
On Friday, May 18, Belmont and Aqueduct will offer wagering on the 13-race Black-Eyed Susan Day card at Pimlico, as well as advance wagering on Saturday's Preakness. Also available is wagering on the Pimlico Special/Preakness Double. Advance and race day wagering will also be available through Telebet (opening at 9 a.m. both days) and NYRARewards.com. All Pimlico races will be included in both Friday's and Saturday's Post Parade programs. NYRA will offer wagering on Saturday's President's Cup Arabian Race, but will not offer Friday's Jockey Challenge wager.
First race post at Pimlico on Black-Eyed Susan Day is 12 noon and parking lots at Belmont Park (free general parking) and Aqueduct ($2 parking fee) will open as regularly scheduled at 11:15 a.m., with admission gates opening at 11:30 a.m. Voucher sellers and self-service windows will open at 11:30 a.m. Friday, with live tellers available beginning at 12:15 p.m. and remaining open in all areas until the after the Pimlico Special (approximate post 5:51 p.m.). Clerks will then be available only on the first floor at Aqueduct and the Belmont Café at Belmont.
On Preakness Day, Saturday, May 19, first post at Pimlico is 10:30 a.m. Accordingly, parking gates at Aqueduct and Belmont will open at 9:45 a.m., with admission gates following at 10 a.m. Voucher sellers, live tellers and self-service windows will commence business at 10:00 a.m. on the first floor at both tracks and the Belmont Café at Belmont. Windows will remain open in all areas until after the Preakness (approximate post 6:18 p.m.), after which clerks will be available only on the first floor at Aqueduct and the Belmont Café at Belmont.
All of Belmont's regular food offerings will be available – including the brand new Fisherman's Wharf restaurant located in the second floor Grandstand – on both Black-Eyed Susan and Preakness Days, with the Heritage Club Bar on the third floor remaining open late on Friday and Saturday. At Aqueduct, food and beverage service is available at the Triple Crown Café and Champs Sports Bar on the first floor, and the Manhattan Terrace and Winner's Circle Coffee Shop on the third floor.
LIRR direct service to Belmont Park will operate as scheduled on Friday, with a complete schedule available at http://www.mta.info/lirr. On Friday and Saturday, the final LIRR train will depart Belmont Park approximately 30 minutes after the Pimlico Special (approximate post 5:51 p.m.) and the Preakness (approximate post 6:18 p.m.), rather than the regularly scheduled departure time approximately 30 minutes after the final live race at Belmont Park. A single shuttle runs from Belmont Park to the Queens Village LIRR station 30 minutes after the completion of the full simulcast program at Belmont on all live racing days.
At Aqueduct, Resorts World Casino New York City operates a shuttle bus from the Aqueduct-North Conduit stop on the A train to the casino entrance.
In addition to all of the simulcast action from Maryland, Belmont offers great live racing on both Friday and Saturday, which features the $100,000, seven-furlong Affirmed Success for New York-breds.
On Friday evening, May 18, NYRA oddsmaker Eric Donovan will host a live web chat to preview the Preakness Day card. Fans can ask Donovan questions by logging on at http://www.nyra.com/livechat beginning that evening at 8 p.m. No pre-registration is necessary for the chat and users may simply type questions and comments in the chat field at the bottom of the page for Donovan to address. At the conclusion of the chat, an "instant replay" is created for future reference.
The NYRA Network's National Racing Report will preview Preakness Day on Saturday at 9:30 a.m. Immediately following the National Racing Report preview show on Saturday, the NYRA Network will air at least the first two live races from Pimlico before transitioning to regularly scheduled programming with live races from Belmont Park and Woodbine. The Black-Eyed Susan will be broadcast live from 4-5 p.m. Friday on the NBC Sports Network, which will also show the Preakness Day undercard from 2:30 - 4:30 p.m. on Saturday. The Preakness will air live on NBC from 4:30-6:45 p.m. Saturday, with post-race coverage on the NBC Sports Network from 6:45-7 p.m.
Fans who want to earn rebates on their wagers can get paid to play with NYRA Rewards, the wagering program that offers cash back just for betting on the races, whether it's on NYRA races or simulcast events! Enrolling in NYRA Rewards is easier than ever with instant sign-up online at NYRARewards.com. Join today and begin wagering on-track, over the phone, on the internet or through mobile wagering supported devices such as your Blackberry or iPhone. NYRA Rewards offers a full simulcast menu of the best racetrack signals coast-to-coast, plus evening race programs, and members enjoy many perks including free express funding, live video streaming, and the most generous cash rewards structure of any advance deposit wagering program in racing.
The 56-day Belmont Park spring/summer Meet runs April 27 through July 15. On most days, gates open at 11:30 a.m. and first race post time is 12:50 p.m. Live racing is generally conducted Wednesday through Sunday. General parking is free, except on Belmont Stakes Day, Saturday, June 9. There is no live racing on Mondays or Tuesdays, with the exception of Memorial Day, Monday, May 28. Belmont Park will be dark on Sunday, June 10 and Wednesday, July 11. Visit www.NYRA.com for more information.
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