Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Contact: Dan Silver
NYRA ENHANCES
“The catalyst behind limiting the field sizes in the maiden races for juveniles was two-fold,” said NYRA Vice President and Director of Racing P. J. Campo. “The smaller fields are expected to produce more cleanly run events while also creating the opportunity to showcase more high-quality races during the meet and beyond. We expect this change will strengthen NYRA's juvenile stakes and allowance programs by helping horses gain the experience they need to compete successfully at higher levels.”
“Protecting our horses is an important mandate,” said New York Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association President and NYRA Board Member Rick Violette Jr. “Larger fields of inexperienced young horses often result in roughly run races. This approach will offer a kinder, gentler and, perhaps, wiser introduction to racing for young horses, and could, in fact, extend their careers.
“Owners will have a better opportunity to fairly evaluate the performances of their horses in manageable fields,” Violette added. “This also will increase the chance that young horses will improve mentally and physically from their first races, rather than having to recover from them.”
The 40-day
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