Elongated summer meet gets 3 stakes from Belmont

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – The extended 2019 Saratoga meet will have 76 stakes worth $20.85 million, according to a schedule released Friday by the New York Racing Association.

The schedule for the 40-day meet, which will run from July 11 through Sept. 2 – one week longer than in past years – includes the recently announced $1 million Saratoga Derby and $750,000 Saratoga Oaks as well as two new turf sprints for 3-year-olds, the Mahony and Galway.

Three races have been moved from Belmont’s shortened spring-summer meet to Saratoga, including the newly renamed Rick Violette Jr. Stakes. That race for New Yorkbred juveniles was known as the Rockville Centre and will be run July 17. The Lynbrook Stakes, for New York-bred juvenile fillies, has been moved to Saratoga, renamed the Stillwater, and will be run July 18. The Forbidden Apple, previously run at Belmont, has been moved to Saratoga and will be the July 12 feature. It’s a prep for the Grade 1 Fourstardave on Aug. 10.

The Saratoga Derby, part of NYRA’s recently announced Turf Trinity for 3-year-old males, will be run on Aug. 4. That race at 1 3/16 miles will be conducted two days after the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, also for 3-year-olds on turf, which has been shortened to a mile from 1 1/16 miles. The Hall of Fame will be run on the same card as the Saratoga Oaks, part of NYRA’s newly announced Turf Tiara for 3-year-old fillies.

The creation of the Saratoga Oaks prompted the shortening of the Lake George for 3-yearold fillies to a mile from 1 1/16 miles as well as the Lake Placid to 1 1/16 miles from 1 1/8 miles.

There are now eight Saturdays at Saratoga, and there still will be a Grade 1 race run on each one. The Coaching Club American Oaks, a dirt race for 3-year-old fillies that had typically been run on a Sunday, has been moved to Saturday, July 20. Its purse was increased by $200,000 to $500,000. Two stallion stakes races also received purse increases of $50,000.

The Whitney and Sword Dancer, both Grade 1 stakes, had their purses cut. The Whitney is now worth $1 million, down from $1.2 million, while the Sword Dancer will be worth $850,000, down from $1 million. The Lake Placid and the Saranac, a 1 1/16-mile turf race from 3-year-old males, each had its purse cut by $100,000.

The two Grade 1 steeplechase stakes – the A.P. Smithwick and New York Turf Writers Cup – each had its purse cut by $25,000 to $150,000.

The traditional major race days remained virtually intact. The Whitney will top a five-stakes program on Aug. 3 that includes the Grade 1 Test, two listed turf stakes, and the Grade 3, $200,000 Troy, one of 10 turf-sprint stakes to be offered at the meet.

On Aug. 24, the $1.25 million Travers tops a seven-stakes program that includes Grade 1 staples such as the Sword Dancer, Personal Ensign, Forego, Ballerina, and H. Allen Jerkens, and the Grade 2 Ballston Spa.

On Aug. 31, the Grade 1, $750,000 Woodward is one of four stakes, including the Grade 2 Glens Falls, Grade 2 Prioress, and Grade 3 Saranac. The Grade 1 Spinaway was moved from that Saturday program to Sunday, Sept. 1.