NYRA announces stakes schedule for the 2024 Aqueduct winter meet

by Pat McKenna

The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) today announced the stakes schedule for the 2024 winter meet at Aqueduct Racetrack.

The 47-day Big A winter meet, which will feature 26 stakes races worth $3.5 million in purses, begins Monday, January 1 and runs through Saturday, March 30. Live racing will be conducted Thursday-Sunday for the first three weeks of January and Friday-Sunday from January 26 through the first week of March. Aqueduct will host a Presidents’ Day card on Monday, February 19. Four-day race weeks resume on March 7.

A total of six stakes received a purse increase at the winter meet, topped by the Listed $150,000 Interborough, which saw its purse improved by $50,000. Five other featured events received an increment of $25,000 in the Grade 3, $175,000 Toboggan and Grade 3, $175,000 Tom Fool Handicap along with three Listed stakes now worth $150,000, including the Heavenly Prize, Stymie, and Excelsior.

The Aqueduct winter meet stakes action kicks off on Saturday, January 6, with a pair of $150,000 stakes events, including the nine-furlong Ladies for older fillies and mares and the one-mile Jerome, which will be the first of three Kentucky Derby prep races at the meet. The Jerome will offer 10-5-3-2-1 qualifying points to the top-five finishers.

The nine-furlong $100,000 Busanda for sophomore fillies on January 13 will provide 20-10-6-4-2 Kentucky Oaks qualifying points to the top-five finishers. The following week will offer the Listed $150,000 Interborough on January 20 as older fillies and mares sprint seven furlongs.

Graded action for the winter meet kicks off on February 3 with the Grade 3, $250,000 Withers at nine-furlongs offering 20-10-6-4-2 Kentucky Derby qualifying points and the Grade 3, $175,000 Toboggan, a seven-furlong sprint for older horses. On February 10, the Listed $150,000 Heavenly Prize will see a field of older fillies and mares travel a one-turn mile.

The centerpiece of the March stakes calendar is the one-mile Grade 3, $300,000 Gotham on March 2, providing 50-25-15-10-5 Kentucky Derby qualifying points. The Gotham Day card includes the Grade 3, $175,000 Tom Fool Handicap for 4-year-olds and up going six furlongs, the Listed $150,000 Stymie at one mile for older horses, and the Listed one-mile $200,000 Busher for 3-year-old fillies, offering 50-25-15-10-5 Kentucky Oaks qualifying points.

Closing Weekend of the winter meet will feature the Listed nine-furlong $150,000 Excelsior for older horses on Saturday, March 30.

For the complete winter meet stakes schedule, visit https://www.nyra.com/aqueduct/racing/stakes-schedule/.