Embrace The Belmont

About this event

“Embrace the Belmont” is intended to bring the Saratoga Springs year-round community
together to learn about basic handicapping and to get to know the 2024 Belmont Stakes field.
We believe this opportunity will help Saratoga Springs business owners, professionals, and year round
residents better understand horse racing. This group currently accepts horse racing and
even appreciates the tourism (aka “business”) that it brings to their town, but we want them to
embrace the sport, understand it well enough to explain it, and perhaps even bring people to the
track one day!
“Embrace the Belmont” will be held from 5:30 - 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 4, and hosted by the
National Museum of Horse Racing and Hall of Fame. The event emcee is Donna Brothers from
NBC Sports, who will be fresh off of covering the first two legs of the Triple Crown for the
network. Donna will lead the “Handicapping 101” segment and then bring in our handicappers to
talk about the Belmont Stakes.
Admission price for the event is $56, an homage to the 156th running of the Belmont Stakes.
This event is also a fundraiser for Therapeutic Horses of Saratoga (THS), and 100% of the
proceeds will benefit the THS. THS is a 501c3 nonprofit horse sanctuary providing space for
mental wellness through horse and human connection. THS matches humans in need with horses
that provide healing.
THS works in partnership with local certified equine therapists who provide equine-assisted
therapy (EAT) to our community’s most vulnerable populations. This includes adults and
children with mental illness and social difficulties, veterans, families and couples, victims of
domestic violence, and others in need of care.
Embrace the Belmont is the brainchild of Laura Simiele of Untamed Filly and Stars Aligned
Stable, Rachel Dunn of Sackatoga Stables and StableConnect, and Donna Brothers. These three
women are passionate about horse racing and the work of Therapeutic Horses of Saratoga and
created this event to share their passions with the community. Please reach out to any one of
them with questions.