Empire Racing Club, Managed By Tom Durkin, Launches Third Season At Belmont
The Empire Racing Club (ERC) is fast approaching the launch of its third season, which officially kicks off May 15, 2021. Membership for Season 3 will be offered at a reduced price of $400 through the official re-launch date of May 15, 2021, with no further outlay by the participants, providing members with the racing and horse ownership experience without the pitfalls and costs often associated with the business.
Membership for new and returning members will be $475 beginning May 16.
In a departure from the first two seasons, 2021 membership is open to both licensed and unlicensed racing enthusiasts looking to enjoy the social and educational benefits of the Club. The 2021 ERC season will be limited to 200 members.
The ERC will once again be managed by famed race caller Tom Durkin. Training the current team of runners for the 2021 season are Hall of Famer Mark Casse; Hall of Fame nominee Christophe Clement, the leading trainer at Aqueduct’s 2020 Fall meet; and Grade 1-winning trainer Tom Morley, based year-round in the Empire State and husband of NYRA TV personality Maggie Wolfendale.
Team runners currently include stakes winner Proven Strategies (Sky Mesa), maiden turf filly Community Adjusted (Summer Front), and the team newcomer, unraced 2-year-old Boom Roasted (Practical Joke).
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After having acquitted himself well in a pair of Grade 1s at two, Proven Strategies returned to win a quartet of races at three, including an allowance race at historic Saratoga Racecourse before earning a career high victory in the Toronto Cup at Woodbine in September. Campaigned in partnership with Len and Jon Green, the Mark Casse trainee looks to bounce back following an off-the-board effort in the Feb. 6 Grade III Tampa Bay Stakes. He is a 10-1 shot on the morning line for the $100,000 Elusive Quality Stakes at Belmont Park Saturday. Jockey Manny Franco has the mount.
Trained by 2020-21 Hall of Fame nominee Christophe Clement, Community Adjusted was a 5-1 chance going a mile and a quarter on the grass on Belmont's Opening Day card Thursday. The 3-year-old ran fourth in her career debut at Saratoga last summer and was given the remainder of the season off, returning off the layoff to finish an enthusiastic fourth, beaten only 2 1/2 lengths, on Gulfstream Park's Florida Derby day undercard Mar. 27. Campaigned by Empire Racing Club and Rob Masiello, she pressed the pace in her return to New York, but had to settle for fourth once again.
Boom Roasted is expected to join Tom Morley in New York in the coming week.
“Well, it’s 2021, and that is reason enough to celebrate. Adieu 2020!,” said Tom Durkin. “I am really looking forward to seeing the members in person again - at the workouts, the races, and at our social gatherings where we can renew old acquaintances and share the experiences of up-close involvement in racing.”
Spearheaded by the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association (NYTHA) in 2019, the ERC is a non-profit organization designed to introduce new fans to racehorse ownership, providing members with the tools necessary to be successful when they take the next step in investing in the sport.
One benefit of ERC membership is the ERC Educational Series, regular Zoom meetings for members featuring many of the industry's leading professionals from all aspects of the sport. Topics covered during the first two seasons of the ERC included breeding, sales, racing partnerships and syndicates, the claiming game, equine health and veterinary care, Thoroughbred retirement, and handicapping. The roster of guests who have been featured in the series represent the who's who of racing.
ERC members receive regular updates about their horses via conference call, email and social media. Once fans are welcomed back to the track, the Club will offer the opportunity to visit the backstretch for morning training and the paddock when the ERC horses run, and will host dedicated ERC events where members can meet and share their experiences and love of the sport.
