Union Talks Are Continuing as Belmont Stakes Nears The president of the New York Racing Association said the 144th running of the Belmont Stakes on Saturday would go off in perfect order even if maintenance and starting gate workers strike, as they have threatened. "We are negotiating and expect to reach an agreement," the association's president, Ellen McClain, said, "and no matter what happens we will be racing on Saturday." About 150 members of the union have been without a contract since February 2011, a year after the previous contract was given a one-year extension. Last month, workers authorized a strike to begin Friday, a day before the running of the Belmont, at which a crowd of more than 100,000 is expected to watch I'll Have Another try to become the 12th horse to win the Triple Crown and the first since Affirmed in 1978.