Empire Trillium Series receives more than 700 nominations

The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) and Woodbine Entertainment are pleased to unveil the nominations of this year’s two-year-old crop to the inaugural Empire Trillium Series.

Announced in March, the Empire Trillium Series is a 14-race program of stakes races restricted to horses foaled in New York or Canada worth $3.2 million in total purses.

Lifetime enrollment to the series for the 2-year-old crop of 2026 closed on June 19 to good support across both sides of the border. A total of 547 New York foaled 2-year-olds and 156 Canadian foaled 2-year-olds were nominated.

“We really appreciate the support from the participants on both sides of the border. The enthusiasm surrounding the program is great to see as we look to build the Empire Trillium series into a major piece of our New York-bred racing program,” said NYRA Racing Secretary Rob MacLennan.

“We're pleased with the response to the Empire Trillium Series, as the number of nominations speaks to the enthusiasm for this new series,” said Tim Lawson, Vice-President, Thoroughbred Racing for Woodbine. “The series will be an important showcase for our Canadian horses, the talented people behind them, and our racetrack. We're excited to see things get underway later this year at Belmont.”

The Empire Trillium Series is set to begin on December 26 at Belmont Park with four $200,000 races on the new one-mile Tapeta oval. A pair of $300,000 races will be held on January 23, 2027, followed by two $200,000 races on February 27, 2027.

The series will then shift to Woodbine for the next six races, all for 3-year-olds and up, beginning April 24, 2027. Nominations for the older crops to run in the 2027 races at Woodbine are due by November 20, 2026.

For the full schedule and information on the series, click here.