New York Racing Association stakes coordinator Andrew Byrnes plans to retire from that role in September at the end of the 2025 Saratoga Race Course summer meet.
NYRA said longtime employee Byrnes will assist in interviewing, selecting, and training a new stakes coordinator following a national search that will commence in the coming weeks.
"The New York Racing Association is proud to recognize and celebrate the career of Andrew Byrnes," said NYRA senior vice president of racing operations Andrew Offerman. "(Byrnes) has invested much of his career working to showcase the best racing in North America at NYRA's racetracks. The consummate professional, we appreciate Andrew's willingness to provide advance notice of his retirement and his desire to ensure his replacement is set up for the future success of NYRA at the new Belmont Park and Saratoga Race Course."
Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas, a four-time Belmont Stakes (G1)-winning trainer, offered his appreciation for the retiring stakes coordinator.
"Over the past 25 years or so, Andrew was the person at NYRA that I could speak to for an update on which stakes were coming up, and he made the whole process easy. I always enjoyed talking to him, and it was always very productive," said Lukas, whose Belmont Stakes victors include Tabasco Cat (1994), Thunder Gulch (1995), Editor's Note (1996), and Commendable (2000). "It will be very difficult to fill the position of a man that was that dedicated and knowledgeable. I hope that he enjoys his retirement because he was certainly a tremendous asset to NYRA."
Lukas, who has won or shared six Saratoga training titles, captured the Travers Stakes (G1) on three occasions, scoring with Corporate Report (1991), Thunder Gulch (1995), and Will Take Charge (2013).
"New York has been a very solid program for us over the years. Andrew was always good to solicit and point out a good spot," Lukas said. "It was so helpful to have someone I could relate to that strongly. He was certainly an asset to our program."
Byrnes' tenure with NYRA dates to 1984 when he worked a summer maintenance job at Aqueduct Racetrack. The native of Rockaway in Queens, N.Y., attended Christ the King High School in nearby Middle Village and attended St. Mary of the Plains College in Dodge City, Kan., where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in business administration before returning home to New York and embarking on a decades-long career with NYRA.
"In my junior year, there was a notice in the school paper about NYRA needing summer help and I got a job at Aqueduct," recalled Byrnes. "Back then, there was a little backyard here and when racing shifted to Belmont in the summer, they would simulcast races outdoors at Aqueduct. I was basically a gardener."
He has enjoyed numerous roles at NYRA through the years, including in the mailroom, in horse identification, and as an entry clerk in the racing office. Byrnes spent eight years as a paddock and patrol judge before landing his dream role as stakes coordinator one week before the start of the 1999 Saratoga meet—a position he has excelled in for the past 25 years.
Byrnes grew up a stone's throw from the racetrack and was introduced to horse racing at Belmont Park through his family.
"My father would take us to the races on the weekends," Byrnes said. "I remember as early as the first grade going with my parents to the old 'Breakfast at Belmont' and it was great. We'd hang out on the apron and watch all the horses train. For me, watching two hours of horses working out was fantastic—once I saw that, I was captured and immediately sold on the sport. My whole family, all my brothers, we all got the bug early."
Byrnes, who would put together the cards for two Triple Crown-winning efforts led by American Pharoah in 2015 and Justify in 2018, was raised in a golden era of racing and can vividly recall Secretariat's 1973 campaign that saw "Big Red" become the first Triple Crown winner in 25 years. Seattle Slew completed the feat in 1977 and Affirmed followed one year later by besting Alydar in all three legs.
"My earliest recollection is Secretariat's Belmont Stakes," Byrnes said. "I was very young, and my father had taken my older brothers to church, and the Belmont Stakes was running at the same time. I watched the race on television, and I was so excited when my father came home to tell him that I spoiled it for him—but I didn't tell him how much he won by.
"I was there as a fan for Seattle Slew and for Alydar and Affirmed," continued Byrnes. "Of course, I was an Alydar fan—always rooting for the underdog. That was probably the best race I've ever witnessed. The most exciting was Secretariat because of the magnitude of it, but the Alydar-Affirmed rivalry was spectacular, and, in that Belmont, they just went at each other."
Byrnes played a key role in assembling the record-setting 2014 Belmont Stakes card that boasted still NYRA-record all-sources handle of $150.24 million and $19.1 million wagered on the Belmont Stakes itself—a race won by Tonalist as California Chrome faltered to fourth in his bid for Triple Crown immortality.
"The card we put together that year is the one I'm most proud of from top to bottom," Byrnes said of the 13-race program that featured 10 stakes in total. "That was the first year we had realigned Belmont Day and stacked it with the Met Mile and all those other great races."
Byrnes, who expressed his gratitude to his fellow racing office staff, also noted his appreciation of a number of former colleagues for their support and guidance through the years, including Frank Gabriel, P. J. Campo, Mike Lakow, and Terry Meyocks, as well as the late Mike Prunetti and Bob Flynn.
"There's been many mentors, and I've had a lot of help over the years," Byrnes said. "Mike Prunetti was very instrumental. Bob Flynn, God rest his soul, was the assistant racing secretary my first couple of years here and a great help.
"A person that really taught me a lot was Mike Lakow; I would consider him not only a good friend, but he was a very good racing official and teacher," added Byrnes. "What impressed me about Mike is that he valued your opinion. If you had a good idea, he would implement it. Each of the racing secretaries I worked with had different strengths and I would try to learn from each and every one of them. Frank gave me a lot of insight and he was a gentleman. He taught me a lot about life and how to deal with people."
Byrnes, who grew up watching the "Racing From..." program hosted by Frank Wright and Charlsie Cantey on WOR-TV in the 1970s, said he maintains a deep appreciation for the sport and is excited to see a new era at Belmont Park begin when live racing returns to Elmont, N.Y. in the fall of 2026.
"My family used to love watching the show with Frank Wright and Charlsie Cantey when they would recap the late double with the big stakes race," Byrnes said. "We'd really look forward to it and every stakes race back then was loaded. That was before there was a Breeders' Cup and the Belmont Fall Championship Meet was even better than Saratoga; it was chock full of really good races and the big push for the year-end championships."
And while Byrnes will happily pass the baton to the next stakes coordinator, he is appreciative of the career he carved out for himself in racing.
"Racing has given me my entire life," Byrnes said. "I'm a kid that grew up a couple miles away from here. I had no connections to anybody in racing. I grew up a racing fan and here I am years later putting together the Travers, Met Mile, Belmont Stakes; to this day, looking back, I still can't believe I've had a hand in the success of these last 30-plus years. Growing up as a racing fan, I idolized these trainers and here I am now a part of it.
"I feel blessed, and I have nothing but positive things to say about NYRA and how they've treated me all these years," Byrnes continued. "I've worked with so many good people and it's been quite a journey, but there comes a time when the journey ends. I'm looking forward to the next chapter. It's been quite a run."
This press release has been edited for content and style by BloodHorse Staff.
