The New York Racing Association announced the cancellation of racing June 8 at Belmont Park due to poor air quality conditions forecast to impact Long Island and all of New York State throughout the day. Racing's status for the remainder of Belmont Stakes week remains unclear, with future cards potentially in jeopardy if hazardous air quality persists.
Smoke from Canadian wildfires began drifting south this week, blanketing cities in the northeastern United States in a haze, in addition to some cities north of the border. Other North American tracks canceled racing June 7 and more followed Thursday, including Woodbine in Canada, Penn National Race Course, Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races and Delaware Park. Some outdoor sporting events were also canceled mid-week in the Northeast, including a Wednesday New York Yankees baseball game.
"Safety is paramount as we navigate this unprecedented situation," said NYRA president and CEO David O'Rourke in a release. "NYRA will actively monitor all available data and weather information as we work toward the resumption of training and racing both here at Belmont Park and at Saratoga Race Course. Based on current forecast models and consultation with our external weather services, we remain optimistic that we will see an improvement in air quality on Friday."
The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority is working with NYRA and other tracks as smoke from wildfires has impacted many tracks in the northeast. HISA does not have a specific rule regarding air quality, but HISA's Racetrack Safety rules require racetracks to develop, implement, and annually review hazardous weather protocols.
HISA supports the use of the Air Quality Index as published at airnow.gov to guide decisions about training and racing. At 10 a.m. ET Thursday, the AQI in Elmont, N.Y., where Belmont is located, registered a 155, a figure deemed "unhealthy" on that scale. It was a "very unhealthy" 209 in New York City at the same time. Both figures were down from peak levels on Wednesday in the region. Wind flow and other factors can impact the AQI, and skies cleared somewhat by noon when the Elmont AQI dropped slightly to 153.
Later on Thursday, the office of New York Gov. Kathy Hochul issued a release indicating the New York State Gaming Commission had directed all state tracks to stop all racing, training and workouts until further notice. The NYSGC has established measures tied to the AQI. Per the NYSGC, if the AQI exceeds 200 at a specific facility, no racing or training may be conducted at that track. If the AQI is between 150 and 200 at a specific facility, only those horses that pass an additional pre-race respiratory veterinary examination will be permitted to race, according to the NYSGC.
"This guidance was arrived at in consultation with the New York Racing Association and is grounded in our shared efforts to provide the safest possible environment for training and racing Thoroughbred horses throughout New York State," said Pat McKenna, NYRA's vice president of communications. "NYRA will continue to closely monitor air quality in and around Belmont Park in the coming days, and we remain optimistic that conditions will allow for the resumption of training and racing on Friday."
The $200,000 Wonder Again Stakes (G2T) and $150,000 Jersey Girl Stakes, which had been set for Thursday, will be rescheduled for June 11 at Belmont. Those races will be brought back as extras for Sunday's card and redrawn.
On June 7 NYRA announced the cancellation of morning training Thursday at both Saratoga Race Course and Belmont Park. NYRA said the conditions that necessitated those decisions would likely persist this afternoon and into the evening, leading to racing on Thursday being scrapped.
With the health of fans, participants, and horses in mind, Tom Bellhouse, executive vice president for West Point Thoroughbreds, agreed with NYRA's decision.
"Absolutely," Bellhouse said. "I've been down here for a couple of days and you could visibly see it yesterday. It was a haze and a layer over the city when you came over the bridge.
"And if you're outside, you can smell it in your clothes and things like that. It's a little better today, but I think to be safe it's the right call. Hopefully, Mother Nature will take its course and, hopefully, we'll be able to enjoy the rest of the weekend. It's disappointing but I think it's absolutely the right call."
West Point Thoroughbreds, in partnership with Dream With Me Stables, had Parnac entered in the fifth race Thursday—an allowance for fillies and mares on the inner turf. Like all those who campaign horses, Bellhouse has dealt with cancellations before, but he couldn't recall a situation like this.
"This is unique for us here on the East Coast. I know they've dealt with fires and things on the West Coast, but in all the years I've been following racing, I don't think we've had an air quality issue before in the East—just in life in general as well as racing. But we'll go on."
Speaking from his Belmont Park barn Thursday morning, before the cancellation of Thursday racing, Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher wore a mask, which health officials believe may prevent inhalation of particles in the air.
"I haven't seen any impact on the horses," he said. "Everybody seems to be well. All the temperatures were normal today. No coughing or anything like that which you would keep an eye out for.
"You would like to keep them on their routine. You'd like to keep them exercising daily, but it's a very unusual circumstance."
On Thursday, hotwalkers walked horses in or around barns on the Belmont backstretch, while other trainers, such as Christophe Clement, had horses circling under tack just outside their stables.
Should the Belmont Stakes (G1) be run June 10 as scheduled, Pletcher said he doubted the cancellation of training from air quality would have an impact on horses from a fitness perspective, "but mentally you would like to keep them in their normal routine."
Trainer Chad Brown also wore a mask Thursday morning, saying it was a safety precaution. He said he had masks available for his staff if they desired to wear them.
He said he felt Thursday's air had improved from the day before. By mid-afternoon Wednesday, the sky had turned a yellowish-orange color.
"The horses, we don't have many options for them, right? They can't wear a mask. We can't close the barns up anymore," he said. "So short of evacuating thousands of horses out of the area, you don't have any options, so it's not worth spending too much time pondering."
He said he had taken telephone calls all morning from owners wondering if the track would be racing.
NYRA wrote in its release that racing is scheduled to resume June 9 at Belmont Park with an 11-race card, which includes five graded stakes, highlighted by a trio of grade 1s. The 155th running of the $1.5 million Belmont Stakes is scheduled for Saturday, along with eight other graded stakes.
Woodbine Entertainment provided an update late in the afternoon Thursday that training and workouts will resume the morning of Friday, June 9, at the Toronto racetrack because the forecasted air quality is expected to improve and be categorized as "moderate-risk" by Environment Canada.
Toronto's air quality on Thursday continued to read "high-risk" air quality and live racing for the evening remains cancelled. A decision on Friday’s live racing card will be made by 8 a.m. Friday.
-Bob Ehalt and Frank Angst contributed to this story.
