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Live thoroughbred racing moves to Aqueduct Racetrack on Friday

by NYRA Press Office

The 2018 fall meet at Aqueduct Racetrack bursts from the gate on Friday at The Big A with an opening weekend highlighted by four graded stakes, as well as the simulcast of the Breeders' Cup World Championships from Churchill Downs.

Racing fans can watch and wager on the Breeders' Cup on Friday, November 2 and Saturday, November 3, while the Aqueduct stakes action kicks off with the 44th running of the Grade 3, $150,000 Tempted for 2-year-old fillies at a mile, and the re-scheduled 43rd edition of the Grade 3, $200,000 Bold Ruler, a seven-furlong main track tilt for 3-year-olds and up, marking the first of 13 graded stakes at the Aqueduct Fall Meet.

The lucrative 23-day fall meet, which runs from November 2 through Sunday, December 2, offers a total of 29 stakes events worth more than $5 million in purse money, including three stakes re-scheduled from the canceled October 27 card at Belmont. Gates open Friday at 11 a.m. with first post time at 12:15 p.m.

Live racing continues on Breeders' Cup Saturday with the Grade 3, $150,000 Turnback the Alarm at nine furlongs for 3-year-olds and up, combined with full simulcast coverage of the Breeders' Cup in Louisville, highlighted by the $6 million Classic, with a locally scheduled post of 5:44 p.m. Doors open at 9 a.m. on Saturday at Aqueduct with first post set for 11 a.m. Fans purchasing a program on Saturday will receive a free Aqueduct Tumbler.

Sunday's Aqueduct program will be anchored by the Grade 3, $200,000 Nashua for 2-year-olds at a mile and will be bolstered by a pair of re-scheduled turf mile stakes including the $100,000 English Channel for 3-year-olds and the $100,000 Awad for sophomores.

In celebration of the 35th Breeders' Cup World Championships, NYRA Bets is offering new players who bet $200 through the last day of Breeders' Cup with a $250 sign-up bonus. Existing NYRA Bets members will be eligible to split one million, two million and three million points if they hit the Late Pick 4 at Churchill Downs on November 1; November 2; or November 3. NYRA Bets players that hit the Churchill Downs Late Pick 4 on all three days will be eligible to split a four-million-point prize. Customers can also earn 10 percent back on all doubles for Breeders' Cup races on both Friday and Saturday. For more information on NYRA Bets offerings, please visit NYRABets.com.

The centerpiece of the Aqueduct Fall Meet is the Grade 1, $750,000 Cigar Mile Handicap on Saturday, December 1, supported by the Grade 2, $250,000 Remsen for 2-year-olds, the first stop through Aqueduct on the "Road to the Kentucky Derby," as well as its sister race, the Grade 2, $250,000 Demoiselle and the Grade 3, $200,000 Go For Wand Handicap for fillies and mares. Post time on Cigar Mile Day is 11:30 a.m.

As the traditional Thanksgiving Day feature, the Grade 3, $200,000 Fall Highweight Handicap for sprinters 3-and-up will get the holiday week's racing action underway on Thursday, November 22. The Fall Highweight will be joined by the $150,000 Winter Memories for 3-year-old fillies on the grass.

The Winter Memories' counterpart for sophomore males, the $150,000 Gio Ponti, will be held alongside the Grade 3, $200,000 Comely for 3-year-old fillies at 1 1/8 miles as the "Black Friday" co-features on November 23. The graded stakes action will continue Saturday of the Thanksgiving weekend with a pair of stakes, including the Grade 3, $400,000 Long Island over 1 3/8 miles of turf for fillies and mares, alongside the Grade 3, $200,000 Discovery for sophomores at 1 1/8 miles.

Thanksgiving Day, Black Friday and Saturday, November 24 will feature special post times of 11:50 a.m.

The opening of the 2018 Aqueduct Fall Meet also comes with the unveiling of a new, renovated inner turf course, which replaces the former inner dirt track. The new seven-furlong inner turf course is similar in design to the outer turf course, which replaced the winterized inner track in 2017 and garnered rave reviews from jockeys and horsemen. Construction of the new inner turf included the installation of a new sand drainage layer and an improved irrigation system to match that of the outer turf. Also, like the outer course, new Kentucky Blue Grass sod was installed throughout the seven-furlong course and chute.

The Aqueduct Winter Meet will commence on Friday, December 7 with the first stakes slated for December 8 on a card headlined by the $100,000 Garland of Roses, a six-furlong sprint for fillies and mares.

Aqueduct Racetrack will be open Wednesday through Sunday with first post scheduled at 12:20 p.m. (with the above exceptions) through Sunday, December 23. The Big A will be closed for live racing from Monday, December 24 through Thursday, December 27. Aqueduct Winter Meet racing will resume on Friday, December 28.