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Horse Racing

TL’s Sunday Sports Notes | Sept 20

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The “New” Belmont Park (NYRA)

By TERRY LYONS, Editor in Chief of Digital Sports Desk

BOSTON – Back in the 1970s, the weekly comedy show “Monty Python’s Flying Circus” would always incorporate a very simple segment within the show to change directions, usually to a rather bizarre topic. “And now, for something completely different” was the phrase and that theory incapsulates an attempt for this week’s column to bring a completely different series of notes, rather than the usual NFL, College Football, and Major League Baseball beat.

First up? It’s Horse Racing and the Grand Opening of the New Belmont Park in Elmont, New York – a stone’s throw away from the UBS Center, home ice for the New York Islanders. The new Belmont has a lengthy Fall meet, running from September 19 to December 6.

At this point, we’ve only seen the joint via artist renditions and a few new pictures provided by the New York Racing Association this week, but the “real thing” was unveiled this weekend and it looks gorgeous. New York State invested a ton of money to build the brand new horse racing track and it’s no minor renovation. It’s a complete do over.

A quick look for the facts had three different dollar figures listed under the first three stories referenced.

  • MSN.com – Listed the investment at $450 million
  • The Associated Press listed the price tag at $500 mil
  • The Albany Times-Union – a paper of the record for NYRA – wrote it’s $550m

As we did with many a Peter Vecsey “Inside the NBA” column back in the day, let’s trust the New York Post which listed the grandstand re-do at $455m. (The Daily News wrote $550m).

NYRA wrote of its own Grand Opening news on Friday, stating: “Following a three-year project to transform the home of the Belmont Stakes into a world-class sports and entertainment destination, a new Belmont Park opened its doors to welcome the return of racing to Long Island.

“Friday’s unveiling of the new Belmont Park commenced with a ribbon-cutting ceremony where New York State Governor Kathy Hochul joined NYRA officials and guests prior to the first race to unveil the modernized venue.”

“It’s an extraordinary time for racing fans from around the globe as we welcome them back to Belmont Park for the first time in three years,” Governor Hochul said. “Here on Long Island, the new Belmont Park is a state-of-the-art, world-class facility with brand new fan amenities and huge expansions in accessible green space. And the improvements go far beyond the grandstand, with four brand new racing surfaces that will host not just the return of the Belmont Stakes and the 2027 Breeders’ Cup, but year-round racing for the first time in the history of this iconic track.”

Aqueduct Raceway is now a thing of the past and Saratoga will return to its wonderful mid-summer meet, including the running of the great Travers Stakes. That leaves Belmont.

NYRA history was made on Friday with Race 1 going off at 1:30pm a 1 1/4-mile maiden special weight event for fillies and mares, 3-years-old and up, on the inner turf. The race was won by Andrew Rosen’s British homebred Lisa Joy for Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey. Jockey Antonio Fresu was aboard for the historical win.

McGaughey, a stalwart member of the New York racing community and winner of the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes in 1989 with Easy Goer, expressed his happiness to be back racing on Long Island.

“I think it’s a beautiful place,” he said. “It’s different than what I expected. We just need to get the kinks out and get the people in it and it’ll be really special. I think it’s going to be great when everything gets settled in. I’m really excited about it and I think the track is great. I like the turf, and I’ve been training on the main track, too, and it’s been great.”

Friday’s nine-race card race generated total wagering of $13,997,422.99.

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: The 2026 PLL season will come to a close (Sunday) September 20 with the championship game between the Denver Outlaws vs. Philadelphia Waterdogs. The game will be televised at 12:30pm (ET) on ABC and the ESPN app as it’s played at Sports Illustrated Stadium in Harrison, New Jersey.

ESPN’s Drew Carter will handle play-by-play duties with Paul Carcaterra and Ryan Boyle as analysts and Quint Kessenich reporting. Dana Boyle will be on site to host halftime coverage and the trophy presentation.

Denver delivered an 11-5 semifinal win over Utah, sprinting to a 9-1 halftime lead behind Brennan O’Neill, Pat Kavanagh and a defense anchored by Logan McNaney. Philadelphia’s CJ Kirst, Michael Sowers and Kyle Lewis, who scored his first career hat trick, helped send the Waterdogs to their first title game of the Bill Tierney era.

Previously, Tierney led the men’s lacrosse team at the University of Denver. He became the first college lacrosse coach to win an NCAA DI Championship for a school located west of the Eastern Time Zone. All totaled, he coached seven NCAA DI championship teams, including six at Princeton University and one at the University of Denver.

MOTOSPORTS: Keeping with the “completely different theme,” the Monster Energy SMX World Championship is in its second of a three week, season ending playoff. The 22 best riders on the circuit are competing on the world’s most challenging track that feature big air jumps, fast straightaways, technical rhythm sections, and elevation changes. An escalating points system allows the racers the opportunity to remain in the hunt for the championship trophy until the winner is crowned. World Champions Jett Lawrence and Jo Shimoda are trying to defend their titles against Eli Tomac, Ken Roczen, Haiden Deegan, Cole Davies and the rest of the field. The entire season comes down to this and next weekend.

TIDBITS & NUGGETS: Election Day can not come fast enough. The election results are not the impetus for the wisg for the day to pass, but rather the need to rid ourselves of the New Hampshire Senatorial race advertisements plastered all over Boston TV channels. … Switchi ng gears, when a batter challenges a pitch and claims it’s a ball and the ABS system shows the entire baseball is within the strike zone, said batter should be ejected from the game.

A REMINDER FOR THOSE WHO VOTE: The First Amendment of the Constitution of the United Sates of America reads as follows:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

Taken that a step deeper, it means: “News organizations and individuals can publish information and opinions freely without government interference.” … “It primarily stops the government from restricting these rights and protects journalists and media outlets as they have the right to investigate, criticize, and report on the government’s actions without fear of censorship or retaliation.”

This week, an authoritarian government official retaliated against CNN, Politico and MS Now TV and restricted access to the government of the USA as a whole.

All news media from all walks of coverage and life need to stand up and fight hard against a totalitarian government and unconstitutional acts. Individuals can exercise their rights and peacefully protest against these illegal actions and ultimately use their vote to vote out and reject those in power who act illegally.

In most cases, moves like those taken this week (Ban on media, or the Pentagon releasing its sixth batch of UFO files, and details on “secret military programs” of the past are blatant distractions to deflect coverage of the real news of the day.

THIS JEST IN: The Southeastern Conference stepped up to enforce its rules, regardless of the NCAA or other court rulings. Wrote the D-1 Ticker: The SEC announced it will enforce the following policy: “An SEC institution is not permitted to have an athlete on its roster who has: 1. previously declared for the NFL, NBA or WNBA Draft, and did not appropriately withdraw, 2. signed a contract with an NFL (or other professional football league), NBA/G-League, or WNBA (or affiliate) team, or 3. been listed on an NFL (or other professional football league), NBA/G-League, or WNBA (or affiliate) roster. The commissioner is authorized to enforce this expectation with penalties against member institutions.”

Let the lawsuits begin.

CAN’T MAKE IT UP: The NHL’s Boston Bruins open their 2026-27 season with a preseason game against the Washington Capitals on Sunday at 5:00pm at TD Garden. The New England Patriots kick-off at 1:00pm the same day and five NFL games start between 4:05 and 4:25pm.

TABLE FOR EIGHT: It’s so difficult to get a reservation for a table at Rao’s in NYC that a New York Yankees Foundation auction has a current bid of $17,000 and that’s just for a table of eight. It does not include the money for dinner-drinks-gratuities. Back in the UES neighborhood, we called it a “Table for None.”

D. Wayne Lukas, 89

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LOUISVILLE – (Wire Service Report) – Hall of Fame horse trainer D. Wayne Lukas died at his home on Sunday. He had been reported as “gravely ill” and was under hospice care.

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The Lukas family issued a statement Sunday that said the 89-year-old had been hospitalized with a severe infection and declined to go through the “aggressive treatment plan” doctors in his hometown in Kentucky had outlined.

USA Today reported earlier in the week that Lukas has returned to his home and is under hospice care to spend his remaining days with his wife, Laurie, and their extended family.

“Wayne is one of the greatest competitors and most important figures in Thoroughbred racing history,” said Mike Anderson, president of Churchill Downs Racetrack. “He transcended the sport of horse racing and took the industry to new levels. The lasting impact of his character and wisdom — from his acute horsemanship to his unmatched attention to detail — will be truly missed. The enormity of this news is immense, and our prayers are with his family and friends around the world during this difficult time.”

The horses trained by Lukas are now under the guidance of Sebastian “Bas” Nicholl via the succession plan of Lukas Enterprises Inc. Nicholl is the longtime assistant to Lukas.

TL’s Sunday Sports Notes | Nov 3

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Breeders’ Cup 2024

By TERRY LYONS, Editor-in-Chief of Digital Sports Desk

BOSTON – Oh, how I wish this dateline was originating from sunny Del Mar, California, a stones throw from San Diego and a shorter throw to Torrey Pines Golf Course, which is a driver and nine iron from La Jolla, one of the most beautiful towns in all the 50 States.

If there’s one race course in the entire United States of America that is perfect for the annual Breeders’ Cup championships, it is Del Mar, situated adjacent Pacific Ocean and the beautiful sights of Southern California. While other horse tracks have enjoyed great days for the Breeders’ – namely Belmont in New York, Churchill Downs in Kentucky, or Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, hosted by our neighbors to the north – Del Mar is something extra special. Paradise for the horse player and the equivalent of Monte Carlo for the rich and famous of the industry known as The Sport of Kings.

Any sports fan has to call The Breeders’ Cup the most underrated event in the sports industry. It’s seven World Series games in one day. The very best of the best all competing at one track over two days.

The event began Friday afternoon with “Future Stars Friday,” where the sport’s stars of tomorrow compete in five Juvenile (two-year-old) races as the warm-up. Keep an eye on Immersive, the Juvenile Fillies winner for trainer Brad Cox. It was Cox’s seventh straight Breeders’ with a win.

In 48 hours, the Breeders’ crown 14 World Champions across different surfaces and divisions, including the season-defining $7 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic, won by Sierra Leone, the No. 2 finisher in May’s Kentucky Derby.

EDITOR’S NOTE: There were two sudden thoroughbred deaths from cardiac events as they raced or trained this week. On Tuesday (Oct 29) at Santa Anita, Practical Move, a horse training for the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, died of a cardiac event after a morning gallop. … On Saturday, 3-year old French colt, Jayarebe, finished seventh in the field of 13 for the 1 ½-mile, $5 million Breeders’ Cup Turf race, which was won by Rebel’s Romance. Trained by Irish native Brian Meehan, Jayarebe was making his sixth start of the year and eighth of his career. He had won four times. “He was immediately attended to by a team of veterinary experts led by Dr. Brent Cassady, but unfortunately passed away,” said Dr. Al Ruggles, the on-call veterinarian for American Equine Racing Practitioners.

Mookie Betts (holding trophy) – (Getty Images)

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: Just in case you didn’t notice, former Red Sox All-Star Mookie Betts had the World Series winning RBI when his new team, the LA Dodgers, disposed of the New York Yankees Wednesday night in New York. The Series ended in LA’s favor a night after a moron, otherwise identified as a Branford, Connecticut man, ripped a ball out of Betts’ mitt but was later tossed out of Yankee Stadium to the streets of the Bronx for the act. The umps properly ruled the play as an out and the so-called fan was banned for Game 5.

THE NBA in MEXICO CITY: The NBA staged another Mexico City Game on Saturday night (9:30pm ET), featuring the Miami Heat and Washington Wizards in concert with a lengthy roster of marketing sponsors. The sponsor line-up included presenting partner Michelob Ultra, and associate partners 2K, AT&T, Azteca, Banco, Betcris, Elektra, Emirates, Hennessy, Hisense, Mercado Libre, Nike, PlayStation, Pepsi, Tissot, TotalPlay, Visit Washington and Wilson. … It was the 33rd time the NBA played a game (preseason or regular season) in Mexico with most games in Mexico City and a few in Monterey.

GET JACKED: The Boston Bruins and their broadcast partner NESN (co-owned by the Red Sox and Bruins) will celebrate former play-by-play announcer Jack Edwards’ career at the mic on Sunday, November 3. The honors will include in-arena and NESN’s features on the game broadcast as the Bs take on the Seattle Kraken at TD Garden at 5:00pm (ET).

“Jack has been an integral part of the Bruins organization for many years,” said Bruins CEO Charlie Jacobs. “His passion for the game and deep connection with our fans elevated the experience of Bruins hockey.”

“Jack’s career as the voice of the Bruins on NESN has been nothing short of extraordinary,” said Matt Volk, COO of NESN. “For nearly two decades, he brought an unmistakable energy and passion to every game, making each moment memorable for fans across New England. We thank Jack for his exceptional contributions and the impact he’s had during his time with us at NESN, and we are thrilled to be able to do so tonight with such a special celebration at TD Garden and on NESN.”

The team will commemorate Edwards’ storied career and lasting impact on the organization with a special pregame presentation. Sunday’s game will also feature special Jack Edwards-themed contests and entertainment in the arena while Jack Edwards t-shirts and commemorative hockey pucks will be on sale in the team store.

BOB COSTAS: After a 44-year stint as one of baseball’s all-time greats, veteran broadcaster Bob Costas announced his retirement from play-by-play broadcasting of games. He will still be involved in various broadcasts, studio shows and general coverage of the game and other sports. Costas will appear on MLB Network’s MLB Tonight Monday at 6:00pm (ET) to discuss his decision. Costas was the recipient of the 2018 Ford C. Frick Award, recognized by the National Baseball Hall of Fame as a legend of the game.

NHL VALUATIONS AND CLUB $ INCREASES: It’s been a while since we’ve passed along a few notes on NHL valuations, reported by friends of WWYI from Sportico. The recent numbers are quite impressive, although still at the bottom of the four major North American team sports.

Sportico did the entire league, of course, and highlighted the Top 10 NHL franchises, in terms of value as of 2024. Here’s the Top 5, the usual characters:

  1. Toronto Maple Leafs – $3.6 billion
  2. New York Rangers – $3.25b
  3. Montreal Canadiens – $2.93b
  4. Boston Bruins – $2.67b
  5. Los Angeles Kings – $2.5b

In terms of franchise value increase this past year, there’s a surprising list of clubs rising in the ranks:

  1. Utah Hockey Club – +193%
  2. Florida Panthers – +140%
  3. Carolina Hurricanes – +137%
  4. New Jersey Devils – +127%
  5. Tampa Bay Lightening – +124%

While the average NHL franchise value is now $1.7 billion, Commissioner Gary Bettman estimates an expansion club would fetch more. “Whether it is $2 billion or $2.5 billion or $2.7 billion, I think that is the range I believe the owners would want to be in if we were going to consider expansion,” said Bettman to The Hockey News earlier this year. … Of course, Bettman’s main focus among franchise issues is the settling of the Utah Hockey Club which just relocated from Arizona and the Ottawa Senators, a franchise struggling in the national capital of Canada.

TIDBITS: There are some serious NFL coaches ready for induction at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in the years to come. This year, the Pro Coach Blue-Ribbon Committee narrowed a list of 14 candidates to these semifinalists: Bill Arnsparger, Tom Coughlin, Mike Holmgren, Chuck Knox, Dan Reeves, Marty Schottenheimer, George Seifert, Mike Shanahan and Clark Shaughnessy. All but Arnsparger, Knox and Seifert reached the semifinalist stage in 2023.

RETIRING, BUT NOT TODAY: The 2024 NWSL regular season is coming to a close this weekend. “Betcha” didn’t know Christine Sinclair will be the biggest storyline, as the 41-year-old veteran will retire after her final game – whenever it comes. Sinclair has spent her whole NWSL career with the Portland Thorns and is one of the all-time greats of the women’s game, maybe the very best. With 190 goals for Team Canada, she is the most prolific international goal scorer in history, female or male. For Portland, she’s netted 66 goals in 199 regular-season appearances and is one of just three active players to have spent her entire NWSL career with the same club. On Friday night, she scored in the first half of Portland’s 3-0 victory over Angel City FC as the win allowed the Thorns to qualify for the NWSL playoffs. Sinclair received a standing ovation as she was subbed out in the 83rd minute, replaced by Meghan Klingenberg.

RATINGS GAME: The Los Angeles Dodgers clinched their eighth World Series title by defeating the New York Yankees in Game 5 this week and the TV numbers capped an amazing postseason for MLB. Game 5 attracted 18.6 million viewers across multiple FOX platforms. It marked the most-watched Game 5 in seven years and the most-viewed World Series game since 2019. Overall, the series averaged 15.8 million viewers, a 74% increase year-over-year from 2023.

SPORTS BIZ: Moonshot, one of the fastest growing companies in the national security industry, and CTH Advisors, an investment banking and advisory firm specializing in sports, media and entertainment, have announced a strategic partnership to combat the rising digital threats in the sports industry. … Moonshot secured over $20 million in government contracts to protect schools, national infrastructure, and public figures from terrorism. This initiative will leverage that technology to deliver best-in-class national security solutions to elite athletes, officials, and sports organizations. … Moonshot’s technology is already being used by major sports institutions, including the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) and the Southeastern Conference (SEC). Moonshot is responsible for protecting all Team USA athletes from online threats on behalf of USOPC. … As digital threats become more sophisticated, from AI-generated deepfakes to coordinated doxxing (the act of publicly providing personally identifiable information about an individual or organization, usually via the Internet and without their consent), the sports industry is increasingly vulnerable to both physical harm and threats to an athlete’s reputation. One in five players at major international sporting events, such as the Women’s World Cup, experiences significant online abuse​. Female athletes face disproportionate volumes of online threats, much like the national security space where Moonshot has found that 92% of women in public life experience bullying and abuse online.

Note: To receive the Notes column on Saturday nights at 10:00pm ET, please see: While We’re Young (Ideas)