Fri July 23-Mon Sept 6.

Nothing like squeezing every last bit of the apple dry and taking time away from Belmont in the process, much to my dismay. Might as well just close down the Belmont spring meet right after the Belmont Stakes and just shift everything upstate.

The meet is already too long at 36 days.

Makes perfect buisness sence. Handle wise. This is a buisness right?

I understand the business point of it 100%. I question what the horseman think about this though. The meet is a grind.

Not just the horsemen, but the corps of employees that work all departments at the Spa. That has to be the biggest grind.

Kicking off the Spa on a Friday afternoon is a huge jump start to the meet, especially with a G-1 like the CCA Oaks headlining the 1st Saturday of the meet. A perfect prep for the Alabama, since it gives the contestants a race over the track prior.

Here's an idea that has potential to be a tremendous moneymaker for NYRA: eliminate Belmont's fall meet altogether, and race at Saratoga in September, but only on a Friday/Saturday/Sunday schedule. By racing 3 days a week at the Spa during September, you maintain the high quality of racing, while making each weekend during September a major event, with the major Breeders' Cup prep season in high gear. I'd bet that Saratoga could pack in 25,000-30,000 for Super Saturday the last weekend of September, compared to the 7,500-10,000 they would get down at Belmont.

After Saratoga's Fall Championship meet concludes, the racing would move to Aqueduct, with an extended main track season running straight through the Thanksgiving holiday. The remainder of the Belmont races (NYB Showcase, and the assortment of supporting stakes) would be run on successive weekends at the Big A. It would make use of a main track and turf course that gets minimal use anyway due to the inner track/changing of seasons, and would give Aqueduct some added significance on the NY calendar.

Will this ever happen? Most likely, no. Belmont in the Fall is a revered tradition in NY racing, and I'm sure that many would be up in arms.

Jeebs, you would be on my planning board

No way this would fly Jeebs...two reasons...NOBODY wants to be in Saratoga racing wise in the fall..Sept. is the fall. 3 days a week would create a major conflict for the bread and butter horsemen who would not get in even if you went to a 12 race card. The cost involved in keeping the plant open and staffed would be a problem too. Most core Employees are fretting about having to stay through Labor Day as it is...Belmont is the granddaddy of Autumn and switching those G1's would make ole August role over..No chance this could ever happen.

Geographically the move would fail. Not enough to lure people to the track and not enough people locally to keep it important and vital..

Of course it would never happen, but one can always dream