​NYRA announces stakes schedule for 2021 Aqueduct fall meet

by Brian Bohl

Cigar Mile Day on December 4 to feature four graded stakes

$500K NYSSS Great White Way and Fifth Avenue tops December 18 card at Big A winter meet

The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) today announced the stakes schedule for the 18-day fall meet at Aqueduct Racetrack that will include 26 total stakes, including 10 graded contests, which will run from Friday, November 5 through Sunday, December 5.

Offering total stakes purses of $4.9 million, the fall meet will be highlighted by a four graded-stakes card on Saturday, December 4, headlined by the Grade 1, $750,000 Cigar Mile Handicap for 3-year-olds and up. 

The stacked Cigar Mile undercard will also include the Grade 2, $250,000 Remsen for juveniles going 1 1/8 miles with 10-4-2-1 qualifying points to the 2022 Grade 1 Kentucky Derby on the line. Its counterpart for 2-year-old fillies, the Grade 2, $250,000 Demoiselle, will offer 10-4-2-1 points towards the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks. Also on tap for the December 4 card is the Grade 3, $250,000 Go For Wand Handicap for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up competing at one mile.

The Big A fall meet stakes action begins on Opening Day, November 5, with the $150,000 Tempted for juvenile fillies going one mile and the $100,000 Atlantic Beach for 2-year-olds at six furlongs on the turf. Opening weekend at the Big A continues on Saturday, November 6, with the Grade 3, $150,000 Turnback the Alarm Handicap for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up at 1 1/8 miles and the $100,000 Stewart Manor for juvenile fillies at six furlongs on the grass. The Grade 3, $150,000 Nashua will bookend the Opening Weekend stakes offerings. 

Following the $150,000 Artie Schiller and $150,000 Winter Memories on November 13-14, the Grade 2, $200,000 Red Smith highlights a strong weekend on November 20-21, which will include the $100,000 Key Cents and $100,000 Notebook on Sunday, November 21. 

Thanksgiving weekend will offer ten stakes over three days beginning Friday, November 26 with the Grade 3, $200,000 Comely for 3-year-old fillies at 1 1/8 miles; the $150,000 Gio Ponti for sophomores at 1 1/16 miles on the turf; and the $150,000 Forever Together for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up at 1 1/16 miles on the grass.

Four stakes will be contested on Saturday, November 21 including the Grade 3, $400,000 Long Island for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up in a marathon 1 1/2 miles on the turf; the $150,000 Aqueduct Turf Sprint Championship for 3-year-olds and up sprinting six furlongs; the $150,000 Discovery for 3-year-olds at 1 1/8 miles on the main track; and the $100,000 Central Park for juveniles at 1 1/16 miles on the turf.

Thanksgiving weekend racing at the Big A will close with three stakes on Sunday, November 28, including the Grade 3, $200,000 Fall Highweight Handicap for 3-years-olds and up at six furlongs; the $150,000 Autumn Days for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up at six furlongs on the turf; and the $100,000 Tepin for juvenile fillies going 1 1/16 miles on the grass.

The Big A fall meet will conclude on Sunday, December 5 with a pair of $150,000 New York Stallion Stakes Series races going seven furlongs on the main track, with the Thunder Rumble for 3-year-olds and up and the Staten Island for fillies and mares 3-year-olds and up.

The Aqueduct winter meet will commence on Thursday, December 9, with seven stakes carded through the end of the calendar year. The first stakes of the winter meet will be the $100,000 Garland of Roses for fillies and mares 3-and-up at six furlongs on Saturday, December 11. 

The following Saturday will again showcase a pair of NYSSS contests with half-million dollar purses for juveniles competing at seven furlongs, with the $500,000 Great White Way for males and the Fifth Avenue for fillies. 

The next day, Sunday, December 19, will offer the $125,000 Queens County for 3-year-olds and up at 1 1/8 miles and the $100,000 Gravesend for 3-years-old and up sprinting six furlongs in the final stakes action before a 10-day holiday break. 

Live racing will resume Thursday, December 30 with the $100,000 Bay Ridge for New York-bred fillies and mares 3-years-old and up at 1 1/8 miles. New Year’s Eve will feature the $100,000 Alex M. Robb for state-bred 3-years-old and up at 1 1/8 miles.

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