Aqueduct

Long before sportswriter Pete Axthelm termed basketball “The City Game,” there was horse racing, long before it was erected at its present location, metropolitan New York was home to tracks named Gravesend and Morris Park and Jerome Park; Brighton Beach, Sheepshead Bay and Jamaica.

And then there was Aqueduct.

If Long Island’s Belmont Park caters to an upscale suburban audience, and Saratoga Race Course attracts the gentry to a historic landmark, Aqueduct was and remains “The City Track” of the working man, hard by the Belt Parkway, the speed of its racing surfaces subtly shifting with the tides of Jamaica Bay--the higher the water table, the faster the ground.

This mile and-one-eighth dirt oval is defined by its history. The New York City Off-track Betting Corporation nearly killed it in 1971, siphoning off race goers in the name of neighborhood convenience, then revived it when OTB went bankrupt in 2010. Now it’s joined at the hip to a casino, Resorts World New York City.

Aqueduct’s past is rich in tradition and defined by events. Secretariat was paraded here before he was sent off into retirement at Claiborne Farm. Cigar won the first two dirt starts in a 16-race streak that included the 1994 NYRA Mile, today the Cigar Mile in his honor.

The Big A by-the-Bay hosted the only triple dead-heat in major-track history, the Carter Handicap of 1944. Gun Bow upset five-time Horse of the Year Kelso before 73,000 fans in 1965. Thirty years later, Pope John Paul celebrated Mass before 75,000 worshippers. ‘Mush’, of A Bronx Tale movie fame, famously lost a bet here.

According to condition books, Aqueduct has three distinct meets but it’s really one extended stand--from the day Belmont Park closes in the Fall through winter and early spring, until New York racing renews its signature Kentucky Derby prep event, the Wood Memorial.

When New York racing went to a year-round schedule, it constructed a winterized “Inner Track” inside its main oval. But that surface was replaced by an expansive turf course after the New York Racing Association converted to a lime-based dirt surface in 2017.

Aqueduct’s oval is bias free, atmospherics notwithstanding. Speed, a universal bias, dominates many races but the nine-furlongs circumference allows ralliers to begin their run on the far turn without undue ground loss that’s common to both wider tracks like Belmont and mile ovals such as Churchill Downs. Winners can come from anywhere.

The style that’s most effective on grass everywhere also applies to turf races run in Queens. Saving ground, horses “covered-up” behind early leaders, those making the final run, wins grass races. A quick turn of foot and staying power are the keys to turf success at Aqueduct.

As weather improves each spring, so does the level of competition. Horses that have wintered in the south return to their New York base. Their less taxing winter regimens allow horses to ship in fresh, ready to give their best for the larger Aqueduct purses. Cooler temps also bolster their energy levels.

As a racing capital, New York’s trainer and jockey colonies boast handfuls of Hall of Fame talent which increases the degree of difficulty for handicappers. Successful Aqueduct bettors must be aware when recent trends are about to shift. Otherwise, how does one separate trainer Todd Pletcher from a Shug McGaughey, a Chad Brown, Bill Mott or Christophe Clement?

As for the riders, what metric do bettors use to determine who is the more gifted Ortiz brother, Irad Jr. or Jose? At the top of their game, is there a significant difference between Johnny Velazquez and Javier Castellano? And who does one bet when Joel Rosario returns East? The same goes for the biggest owners in the game with divisions here. Everyone wants a bite out of the Big Apple.