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NYRA announces stakes schedule for the 2024 Belmont at the Big A spring/summer meet

by Pat McKenna

The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) today announced the stakes schedule for the 2024 Belmont at the Big A spring/summer meet, which will open Thursday, May 2 and include 32 stakes worth more than $6.6 million in total purses.

As announced in December, the ongoing construction of a new and re-imagined Belmont Park will require significant adjustments to the customary NYRA schedule. Most notably, the 2024 Belmont Stakes Racing Festival will be held at Saratoga Race Course from June 6-9. In addition, the spring/summer and fall meets traditionally held at Belmont will take place at Aqueduct Racetrack in 2024.

Differences between the circumference of Belmont Park and Aqueduct Racetrack will require slight distance changes to a number of races to be contested during the Belmont at the Big A spring/summer meet.

On the turf, five races previously run at seven-furlongs [Elusive Quality, Soaring Softly, Paradise Creek, NYSSS Cupecoy's Joy, NYSSS Spectacular Bid] will be contested at six-furlongs. In addition, both the Grade 1 Belmont Derby Invitational and Grade 1 Fasig-Tipton Belmont Oaks Invitational will be contested at 1 3/16-miles on turf rather than the customary 1 1/4-miles. On the main track, the Grade 2 Brooklyn will be run at 11 furlongs rather than the traditional 12 furlongs.

The meet’s stakes action kicks off on the May 2 Opening Day card with the $100,000 Affirmed Success for older New York-breds sprinting six furlongs. Graded action at the meet begins the following day with a pair of Grade 3 contests slated for Friday, May 3 in the $200,000 Sheepshead Bay for older fillies and mares going 1 3/8 miles on the turf and the $175,000 Westchester for older horses traveling a one-turn mile.

Saturday, May 4 will feature the Grade 2, $200,000 Fort Marcy at nine furlongs on the turf for older horses, the Grade 2, $200,000 Ruffian at a one-turn mile for older fillies and mares, and the Listed $150,000 Elusive Quality for older horses. Three more stakes events will close out the weekend on Sunday, May 5 with the Grade 3, $175,000 Beaugay at 1 1/16-miles on turf for older fillies and mares, and two six-furlong Listed events in the $150,000 License Fee for older filly and mare turf specialists and the $150,000 Gold Fever for sophomores.

Saturday, May 11, will feature the Grade 2, $400,000 Man o’ War for older horses traveling 1 3/8 miles on the turf; the Grade 3, $200,000 Peter Pan for sophomores going nine furlongs – the traditional local prep for the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets - and the Grade 3, $175,000 Runhappy at six furlongs for older horses. The weekend concludes with the Grade 3, $175,000 Soaring Softly for sophomore fillies on the turf on Sunday, May 12.

The Grade 3, $175,000 Vagrancy for older fillies and mares sprinting 6 1/2 furlongs will be run on Saturday, May 18 with the Listed $150,000 Paradise Creek for sophomores to follow on Sunday, May 19. The Grade 2, $200,000 Pennine Ridge for sophomores going nine furlongs on the turf will be held Saturday, May 25 followed by the Grade 2, $200,000 Wonder Again at nine furlongs for sophomore fillies on Monday, May 27.

After a nearly two week hiatus from Aqueduct for the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival at Saratoga Race Course, spring/summer meet stakes action will resume on Friday, June 14 with the $150,000 NYSSS Cupecoy’s Joy for eligible state-sired sophomore turf fillies.

The Grade 2, $200,000 Bed o’ Roses for older fillies and mares sprinting seven furlongs will headline the Saturday, June 15 program followed by the $150,000 Spectacular Bid division of the NYSSS for eligible state-sired sophomores on the turf on Sunday, June 16.

The Listed $150,000 Wild Applause for sophomore fillies going one-mile on turf will be run on Saturday, June 22 before older New York-bred fillies and mares take center stage on Sunday, June 23 for the six-furlong $125,000 Dancin Renee. Sophomore turf specialists will take on the one-mile Grade 3, $250,000 Manila on Saturday, June 29.

Closing Week of the spring/summer meet kicks off on Thursday, July 4 with the Grade 3, $175,000 Victory Ride for sophomore fillies sprinting 6 1/2 furlongs and the Listed $150,000 Perfect Sting for older fillies and mares going one mile on the lawn. Friday, July 5 will provide a new place on the racing calendar for the Grade 2, $200,000 Brooklyn, a marathon for older horses traditionally run on the Belmont Stakes undercard.

A stakes-laden program on Saturday, July 6 will feature four graded events led by a pair of Grade 1s on the turf in the $750,000 Belmont Derby Invitational for sophomores and the $500,000 Fasig-Tipton Belmont Oaks Invitational for sophomore fillies. These prestigious contests will be supported by the Grade 2, $200,000 John A. Nerud for older horses sprinting seven furlongs and the Grade 3, $200,000 Dwyer for sophomores going one mile.

The meet’s stakes action concludes on Closing Day, Sunday, July 7, with a pair of $125,000 New York-bred turf tests in the one-mile Hudson Valley for older horses and the 1 1/16-mile Port Washington for older fillies and mares.

For the full Belmont at the Big A spring/summer meet stakes schedule, visit https://nyra.com/spring-summer.