Met Mile, other stakes moved to Belmont Day
 

Per Dave Grening on Twitter:

@DRFGrening 1m
Belmont Stakes Day card to include 10 stakes as Met Mile, Ogden Phipps, Acorn, Brooklyn and Jaipur added to schedule. Met Mile purse $1.25M

To me this is a real bummer. The Met Mile has been our Memorial Day staple forever. "Summer in New York starts when the horses hit the wire in the Met".. Now it's just another stakes on the Belmont card. Way to mess with a good thing.

NYRA Moves Met Mile to Belmont Stakes Day...
 

and others...

Belmont Stakes Day now second-richest day in North American racing with $8 million in purses

http://www.nyra.com/aqueduct/belmont...urses/?print=y

The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) announced today that its 2014 Belmont Stakes card on Saturday, June 7 will offer total purses of $8 million and feature 10 stakes races. In 2013, only one card, Breeders' Cup Saturday at Santa Anita Park, had purses totaling more than $8 million.

The 13-race Belmont Stakes Day card serves as the centerpiece of a new three-day "Belmont Stakes Festival" that will offer a wide array of special hospitality and entertainment options. The 10 Saturday stakes will be worth an aggregate $7.7 million. In 2013, Belmont Stakes Day included six stakes events worth $2.95 million.

"We've put together the finest day of racing in Belmont Stakes history," said New York Racing Association CEO and President Chris Kay. "We want every serious and casual fan in the area to come out on June 7 and experience the excitement and fun of one of New York's truly signature sporting events."

Five traditional Belmont Stakes Day contests - the Grade 1, $1.5 million Belmont Stakes; the Grade 1, $1 million Manhattan; the Grade 1, $750,000 Longines Just a Game; the Grade 2, $500,000 Woody Stephens; and the $150,000 Easy Goer will be back as part of the 2014 event.

Five stakes that were not contested on Belmont Stakes Day in 2013 will also be part of the 2014 card. Topping the list is the Grade 1, $1.25 million Metropolitan Handicap. Known as "The Met Mile," the race for 3-year-olds and older at one mile on the main track is annually considered one of the most prestigious races run in North America.

Also new to the Belmont Stakes Day lineup are the Grade 1, $1 million Ogden Phipps; the Grade 1, $750,000 Acorn; the Grade 2, $500,000 Brooklyn Invitational; and the Grade 3, $300,000 Jaipur Invitational. This year's renewal of the Brooklyn will include the "Brooklyn Bonus" whereby any horse who has previously won a graded stakes at 1 3/16 miles or longer will receive a bonus of $175,000 if he or she captures the Brooklyn.

The Metropolitan Handicap and the Ogden Phipps will also serve in 2014 as Breeders' Cup Challenge "Win and You're In" races offering the winners fees-paid starting berths to the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile and Breeders' Cup Distaff, respectively.

Grade 1, $1.5 million Belmont Stakes
Grade 1, $1.25 million Metropolitan Handicap
Grade 1, $1 million Ogden Phipps
Grade 1, $1 million Manhattan
Grade 1, $750,000 Acorn
Grade 1, $750,000 Just a Game
Grade 2, $500,000 Woody Stephens
Grade 2, $500,000 Brooklyn Invitational
Grade 3, $300,000 Jaipur Invitational
$150,000 Easy Goer
ALW
ALW
ALW

Friday
True North
Intercontintal
Belmont Gold Cup

"This is the premier day of racing at Belmont Park, anchored by the historic Belmont Stakes," said Martin Panza, NYRA's Senior Vice President of Racing Operations. "I see June 7 as a summer time Breeders' Cup-type event. Fans and New York horsemen deserve a day like this."

Also scheduled as part of the 13-race Belmont Stakes Day card are three overnight allowance events - two on dirt, one on turf - offering a total of $300,000 in purses.

Highlighting Friday's card on June 6 are the Grade 2 True North and a new race, the $200,000 Belmont Gold Cup Invitational to be run at 2 miles on the turf. On Sunday, Belmont will host another new contest, the $100,000 Intercontinental to be run at 7 furlongs on turf.

The Brooklyn, the Jaipur and the Belmont Gold Cup will all be invitational races with no nomination, entry or starting fees.

The True North, Manhattan, Ogden Phipps, and Brooklyn will have allowance weights in 2014 after having handicap weights in 2013.

Longines entered into a long-term partnership with The New York Racing Association as the Official Timekeeper and Official Watch of Belmont Park and The Belmont Stakes, and 2014 marks the third year Longines has been the entitlement sponsor of the Grade 1 Just A Game on Belmont Stakes Day.

I'm bummed. I've come to love Met Mile Day. A great day of racing without insane crowds.

I like it myself

Better hope these races get national TV coverage.

To me it seems a waste but will see if it increases overall handle.

Doesn't this just make the rest of the Belmont summer meet a Saratoga prep loaded with $100k overnight stakes for features?

Will it be the race right after the Belmont? Carries more weight IMO most years.

Could part of it be a way of shoring up Belmont Stakes Day in the event that we don't have a Triple Crown on the line? The 2012 number was inflated because there was hype from I'll Have Another and it didn't have a chance to deflate since he pulled out relatively last minute. Normally we look at what, 45,000-55,000?

http://www.belmontstakes.com/blog/te...y-the-numbers/
Here are the ones with TCs on the line. Funny to see the disparity between the 70s and the 00s. More people saw Jazil win at Belmont Park than Spectacular Bid (not by a lot but still..). The '93 Belmont brought in 45K.

Here's the Met Mile attendance situation as of 2012: http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-raci...-met-mile-card So lemme get this straight, 9-10K for the Met Mile card? Yeah, moving it to a day with 5 to 10 times the attendance isn't the worst thing. If having it on Memorial Day meant it pulled it a lot more, maybe they'd leave it, but it's not. How much overlap is that? Surely most of the Met Mile goers go to the Belmont Stakes? People don't bet on the Met Mile card and put their hands in their pockets on Belmont day do they?

More stupid money will be floating around on Belmont Stakes Day to go on things like the Met Mile. Particularly if they get lucky and there's a Triple Crown possibility. They wouldn't be doing this if they didn't think it'd pay off financially. I'd be willing to bet (no pun intended) that it will.

Obviously it's to increase handle and retain more interest if there's no Triple Crown on the line. It'll probably work in that regard. But tradition matters sometimes and the Met Mile on Memorial Day was one of the few remaining racing fixtures in New York. The festive Memorial Day crowd and the Met's centerpiece status made it the great event it deserved to be. Now it's just another race on a bloated undercard.

I like the idea a lot. Rather than viewing the Met Mile as diminished by being a race on the Belmont Stakes undercard, I'd like to think that one of New York's best races is being enhanced by having it showcased on the biggest day of racing in New York.

From a financial standpoint, last year's Memorial Day handle at Belmont was only $16 million. You would have to think that the increase in handle on Belmont Stakes Day with these changes would more than offset whatever handle is lost on Memorial Day.

I only hope that what is sure to be another increase in ticket prices for Belmont Stakes Day isn't too steep.

Chris Kay will have a prolific day of trophy presenting

The potential downside is a really rainy weekend that creates a entire day of short field stakes.

Maybe we can get Cuomo to attend the big day?

Any guesses on the percentage of increase in ticket prices for Belmont day?

I have annually had seats about 50 yards from the finish line (preferred grandstand) for $120; I wouldn't mind them going to $150, given the "enhanced customer experience" by the reconfigured stakes schedule. Anything more than that would probably be excessive. As recently as 2004, these same seats went for only $60.

I've always viewed Belmont Stakes ticket prices this way: when there is no Triple Crown on the line, I'm overpaying for the seat relative to demand; however, when a Triple Crown is on the line, I'm underpaying for the seat relative to demand. So long as there is a Triple Crown try once every four years, it all tends to even out.

I understand your point of view. I'll be surprised if they only go up that much. We'll see. As a person mostly interested in betting, I'd never pay that much to be at any racing event, but that is just me. NYRA should charge whatever the market will bear.

I bet they increase 50%

Will it really add that much to the Belmont Day experience for the card to now include the Met Mile, Phipps, and Acorn? If anything, I think it will diminish the fans' appreciation of some of the stakes run that day. I'm not advocating for a return to the days when important stakes would be bookended by mere allowance races, but this move falls into the category of too much of a good thing.