Belmont Derby and Oaks among stakes taking trims

There will be 59 stakes worth $18.4 million offered at the 2019 Belmont spring-summer meet, according to a schedule released Friday afternoon by the New York Racing Association.

Six stakes are getting purse cuts. including the Belmont Derby for 3-year-olds and the Belmont Oaks for 3-year-old fillies. The Belmont Derby will be worth $1 million, down from $1.2 million from its previous three runnings. For its first two runnings, the Belmont Derby was worth $1.25 million.

The Belmont Oaks will be worth $750,000, down from the $1 million purse it carried for its first five runnings.

Since 2014, the Belmont Derby and Oaks have been anchors to the Stars & Stripes program, which also features the Grade 2 Suburban, Grade 3 Dwyer, and the Grade 2 Belmont Sprint Championship.

This year, those five stakes will be offered on July 6, although the Belmont Sprint Championship will now be known as the John A. Nerud, named in honor of the late Hall of Fame trainer who conditioned the immortal Dr. Fager as well as sprint champions Ta Wee, Intentionally, and Dr. Patches. The Nerud, run at seven furlongs, will be worth $300,000, down from $350,000.

Other races taking $50,000 purse cuts for 2019 were the $250,000 Dwyer, the $700,000 Ogden Phipps (June 8), and the $300,000 Peter Pan (May 11).

Two New York Stallion Stakes races – the Cupecoy’s Joy and Spectacular Bid, both to be run on June 23 – each received $50,000 purse increases to $150,000. Stallion Stakes races are funded by the New York Breeders’ Fund.

The $1.5 million Belmont Stakes – the third leg of the Triple Crown – tops a June 8 card that now includes eight Grade 1 stakes and 10 stakes overall. The Woody Stephens and Jaipur Invitational were elevated to Grade 1 status by the North American Graded Stakes Committee for 2019.

On Thursday, it was announced the Belmont springsummer meet would be shortened by one week compared to last year to accommodate an earlier start at Saratoga. This year’s Belmont meet will be 48 days (April 26 through July 7). Last year’s Belmont meet offered 62 stakes worth $19.3 million over 54 days.

Stakes not scheduled at Belmont this summer but expected to be moved to Saratoga are the Forbidden Apple for older horses at a mile, and the Rockville Centre and Lynbrook for New York-bred juveniles and juvenile fillies, respectively.

The May 11 card will offer five stakes topped by the Grade 1, $700,000 Man o’ War, along with the Peter Pan, Beaugay, and Vagrancy – all Grade 3 races – as well as the listed Runhappy.