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NYRA announces 2019-20 Aqueduct winter meet stakes schedule and race dates

by NYRA Press Office

The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) today announced the race dates and stakes schedule for the 2019-20 winter meet at Aqueduct Racetrack. With 45 stakes races on offer, the winter meet begins Thursday, December 12 and continues through Sunday, March 29. 

January will feature 17 dates with live racing generally conducted Thursday through Sunday with the exception of New Year's Day, a Wednesday card highlighted by the $150,000 Jerome for freshly minted 3-year-olds, as part of New York's road to the Kentucky Derby. The Martin Luther King, Jr. Day holiday card, marking the birthday of the late civil rights leader, is slated for Monday, January 20 and features the $100,000 Interborough for fillies and mares 4-years-old and up. There will be no live racing on Thursday, January 2 and Thursday, January 16 to accommodate the special holiday cards.

The February racing calendar will also include 17 dates with live racing generally conducted Thursday through Sunday with the exception of the special Presidents’ Day card on Monday, February 17. The graded stakes action will kick off on February 1 with the Grade 3, $250,000 Withers, the second race on New York’s road to the Kentucky Derby. There will be no live racing on Thursday, February 13 to accommodate the Presidents' Day card.

A total of 13 racing cards are set for March, which will see live racing conducted Friday through Sunday. Saturday, March 7 will feature four stakes, including two graded. The centerpiece is another Derby prep, the Grade 3, $300,000 Gotham, that will see sophomores run at one mile at the Big A with 50-20-10-5 qualifying points up for grabs. The packed card also includes the Grade 3, $200,000 Tom Fool Handicap for 4-year-olds and up going six furlongs; the $250,000 Busher Invitational for 3-year-old fillies; and the $125,000 Stymie for 4-year-olds and up.

As previously announced, the 2019-20 winter meet stakes action kicks off with New York-bred talent competing in the New York Stallion Stakes Series. Saturday, December 14 will see 2-year-olds going seven furlongs in the $500,000 Great White Way while the 2-year-old fillies will run in the $500,000 Fifth Avenue on December 15.

The $125,000 Queens County on December 21, followed by the $100,000 Gravesend, will conclude stakes action before the Christmas break. A pair of $100,000 contests for New York-breds, featuring the Alex M. Robb on December 28 and the Bay Ridge on December 29, will close the curtain on stakes races for 2019.

On its final weekend, the 59-day winter meet will feature a stakes-laden card on New York Claiming Championship Day, Saturday, March 28 and the $100,000 East View on Sunday, March 29.

2019-20 Aqueduct Winter Meet stakes schedule: