NYRA announces Belmont Stakes schedule
OZONE PARK, N.Y. >> The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) today announced the stakes schedule for a 48- day Belmont Park spring/summer meet, featuring 59 total stakes races worth $18.4 million, to commence on Friday, April 26 and run through Sunday, July 7.
The meet is highlighted by the three- day Belmont Stakes Racing Festival from Thursday, June 6 through Saturday, June 8 that will encompass 18 total stakes, including eight Grade 1s, featuring the 151st running of the $1.5 million Belmont Stakes on June 8.
The Belmont Stakes Racing Festival opens with three stakes races on June 6, including a pair of Grade 3 turf events, the Intercontinental for older fillies and mares and the Wonder Again, for 3-year- old fillies. The next day will offer four graded stakes, led by the Grade 2, $600,000 New York for older fillies and mares going 1 ¼ miles on the turf.
Belmont Stakes Day will feature nine graded stakes, including eight Grade 1s. The Grade 1, $ 1.2 million Runhappy Metropolitan [Dirt Mile], the Grade 1, $700,000 Ogden Phipps [ Distaff] and the Grade 1, $ 400,000 Jaipur [ Turf Sprint], recently upgraded to Grade 1 status, are “Win and You’re In” qualifiers for the Breeders’ Cup in November at Santa Anita.
Rounding out the Grade 1 races is the $1 million Woodford Reserve Manhattan for 4-year-olds and up on the turf, the $700,000 Acorn for 3-year-old fillies, the $700,000 Longines Just a Game for fillies and mares 4-years-old anduponthe turf and the upgraded $400,000 Woody Stephens for 3-yearold sprinters. The packed card will lead up to the Belmont Stakes, the final leg of racing’s famed Triple Crown, contested at 1 ½ miles in the “Test of the Champion.”
The Man o’ War Racing Festival set for May 11 boasts five stakes, including four graded events, led by the Grade 1, $700,000 Man o’ War at 1 3/8-miles on the turf for 4-year-olds and upward.
The action-packed card is also highlighted by the Grade 3, $300,000 Peter Pan, the local prep for the Belmont Stakes, for sophomores at 1 1/8 miles. Rounding out the day’s stakes are a pair of Grade 3 contests for fillies and mares with the $200,000 Beaugay at 1 1/16 miles on the grass and the $200,000 Vagrancy for sprinters, and the $150,000 Runhappy for sprinters 4-years-old and up.
The spotlight will shine on New York-breds on Monday, May 27, as part of Big Apple Showcase Day. The lucrative Memorial Day card features six stakes worth $900,000 for horses bred in the Empire State led by the $200,000 Commentator at a mile for 3-year-olds and up and the $200,000 Critical Eye at the same distance for fillies and mares, 3-yearsold and upward. Also featured on Big Apple Showcase Day card are a quartet of $125,000 stakes for New York-breds, including the Kingston, Mount Vernon, Mike Lee and Bouwerie.
In 2019, the Stars & Stripes Racing Festival will be contested over three days beginning on Thursday, July 4 and concluding on Saturday, July 6, when five graded stakes will be offered on the Belmont spring/summer meet’s penultimate day.
The packed card will include the Grade 1, $1 million Belmont Derby Invitational for 3-year- olds going 1 ¼ miles on the turf and the Grade 1, $750,000 Belmont Oaks Invitational over the same surface and distance, as well as the Grade 3, $250,000 Dwyer for 3-year-olds.