Travers Day moved to Aug. 8
The track will open on July 16 without fans
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. » Runhappy Travers Day will be moved to Aug. 8, the biggest change to this season’s Saratoga Race Course card, as the New York Racing Association announced the stakes schedule for the annual meet scheduled to start on July 16.
In a press release on Friday, NYRA said the change to the 151st $1 million Mid-Summer Derby, normally run at the end of August, was made to accommodate schedule adjustments and overall calendar for competing 3-year-olds due to health and safety measures instituted to mitigate risk and combat the spread of COVID-19.
This year’s three Triple Crown races — the Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and Belmont Stakes — normally run in May and early June, were rescheduled to Sept. 5, Oct. 3, and Saturday, June 20, respectively.
The Travers will still be contested at 1 ¼ miles and is one of three Grade 1s on the day, joining the $300,000 Ballerina for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up, going seven furlongs in a “Win and You’re In” qualifier for the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint.
The day will also see sophomore fillies compete in the Grade 1, $300,000 Longines Test at seven furlongs, with the card bolstered by the Grade 3, $200,000 Troy, a 5 ½-furlong turf sprint for older males, and the Grade 3, $150,000 Waya, a 1 ½-mile turf route for older fillies and mares.
In all, the 2020 meet that concludes Monday, Sept. 7 will feature 71 stakes races worth $14.45 million, encompassing 39 graded stakes and 18 Grade 1s.
“We’re thrilled to be racing at Saratoga this summer, and we thank Governor Andrew Cuomo for his support and the support of horsemen who have worked with us to navigate the many challenges,” NYRA President and CEO Dave
O’Rourke said in a press release. “While this will be anything but a traditional Saratoga season, we hope to provide a semblance of normalcy for both the local community as well as racing fans across the country.”
Under current New York state guidelines, Saratoga Race Course will open on July 16 without spectators in attendance.
The 40-day meet — with dark (non-racing) days on Mondays and Tuesdays — will feature at least one stakes race every live racing day, highlighted by the Travers as well as the Grade 1, $750,000 Whitney on Aug. 1, as the anchors of two of the biggest racing days in North America.
Whitney Day will feature three Grade 1 events, led by the historic Whitney, a handicap at 1 1/8 miles with an automatic berth to the Breeders’ Cup Classic on Nov. 7 at Keeneland on the line.
The card is bolstered by the Grade 1, $500,000 Personal Ensign, a “Win and You’re In” qualifier for the Breeders’ Cup Distaff in November; and the Grade 1, $300,000 H. Allen Jerkens Memorial presented by Runhappy for 3-year-olds sprinting seven furlongs.
The stakes-laden card also includes the Grade 2, $250,000 Bowling Green for 4-year-olds and up on the turf and the $200,000 Caress, a 5 ½-furlong turf sprint for older fillies and mares.
The Grade 1, $500,000 Alabama for 3-year-old fillies going 1 ¼ miles is slated for Saturday, Aug. 15, which will also see the second running of the $500,000 Saratoga Derby, part of the Turf Triple Series for 3-year-olds. Its filly counterpart, the $500,000 Saratoga Oaks for sophomores, will be run the next day.
The Saratoga meet commences with a strong Opening Day card highlighted by the Grade 3, $100,000 Peter Pan. The 1 1/8-miles test for sophomores was moved from its traditional home at Belmont Park to Saratoga. Also on tap for is the Grade 3, $100,000 Schuylerville for juvenile fillies going six furlongs.
The meet’s first Grade 1 will be on the opening Saturday, July 18, when the $350,000 Coaching Club American Oaks for sophomore fillies going 1 1/8 miles takes center stage, supported by the Grade 2, $150,000 National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame.
A pair of graded stakes feature on Saturday, July 25, topped by the Grade 1, $250,000 Alfred G. Vanderbilt, a handicap for 3-yearolds and up going six furlongs, and including the Grade 2, $200,000 Ballston Spa for older fillies and mares on the turf.
New to the Saratoga stakes schedule are a pair of New York-bred races for older grass horses with the Lubash set for July 22 and the Dayatthespa for fillies and mares on July 29, both offering a purse of $85,000 for the 1 1/16-mile turf tests.
The $100,000 Perfect Sting, a 1 1/16-mile turf test for older fillies and mares, moves from Belmont to Aug. 14 at the Spa.
The Grade 1, $400,000 Fourstardave, a handicap for 3-year-olds and up going one mile on the turf, will take place on Saturday, Aug. 22. The Grade 1, $500,000 Diana for fillies going 1 1/8 miles on the turf will be the feature on Sunday, Aug. 23.
A pair of stakes for sophomore state-breds originally scheduled at Aqueduct, the NYSSS Times Square and NYSSS Park Avenue, will now be contested at Saratoga
on Aug. 27 and Sept. 3, respectively, both offering a purse of $100,000 for the 6 ½-furlong main-track sprints.
The Grade 1, $300,000 Forego, presented by America’s Best Racing, a sevenfurlong sprint for 4-yearolds and up, shares center stage on Saratoga’s penultimate Saturday on Aug. 29, with the day also offering the Grade 1, $500,000 Sword Dancer, a 1 ½-mile turf route for 4-year-olds and up that serves as a “Win and You’re In” qualifier for the Breeders’ Cup Turf.
The final weekend of the 2020 Saratoga meet will have six graded stakes.
Four of those contests will run Saturday, Sept. 5, led by the Grade 1, $500,000 Woodward, a handicap for 3-yearolds and up going 1 ¼ miles. A trio of Grade 2 races includes the $150,000 Jim Dandy for sophomores at 1 1/8 miles; the $200,000 Prioress for sophomore fillies going six furlongs; and the $200,000 Glens Falls for older fillies and mares competing at 1 3/8 miles on the turf.
Sunday, Sept. 6 is the date for the Grade 1, $250,000 Spinaway for sophomore fillies going seven furlongs, along with the Grade 2, $150,000 Honorable Miss, a handicap for fillies and mares 3-yearsold and up at six furlongs.
The $250,000 Runhappy Hopeful, at seven furlongs for juvenile sprinters as the traditional final Grade 1 of the Saratoga meet, brings the curtain down on Closing Day Monday, Sept. 7.