SR Photo

​2023 Belmont at the Big A fall meet to offer 40 stakes worth $8.78M

by Pat McKenna

The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) today announced the stakes schedule for the 28-day 2023 Belmont at the Big A fall meet. 

As previously announced, the 2023 Belmont Park fall meet will be conducted at Aqueduct Racetrack due to ongoing major capital improvement projects at Belmont Park. The fall meet will begin on Thursday, September 14 and run through Sunday, October 29 and includes three Grade 1s and six Breeders’ Cup “Win and You’re In” qualifiers. The meet will offer a total of 40 stakes worth $8.78 million in total purses. 

The Belmont at the Big A stakes action kicks off on Saturday, September 16 with the 11-furlong Grade 3, $350,000 Fasig-Tipton Jockey Club Oaks, the final leg of the lucrative Fasig-Tipton Fillies Turf Triple for sophomore fillies. 

The following week will see the first New York-bred stakes of the meet with the $125,000 John Hettinger for fillies and mares on Friday, September 22, followed by the Grade 3, $150,000 Noble Damsel for fillies and mares and the state-bred $125,000 Ashley T. Cole for 3-year-olds and up on Saturday, September 23. The weekend concludes with a pair of seven-furlong sprints worth $125,000 for state-bred juveniles on Sunday, September 24 in the Bertram F. Bongard and its female counterpart, the Joseph A. Gimma. 

Saturday, September 30 features a loaded card of four graded events, including the first Grade 1 of the meet in the $500,000 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic for 3-year-olds and up going 1 1/2 miles on turf. The card is supported by a triad of Grade 2 events in the $400,000 Woodward at nine furlongs for 3-year-olds and up, the $250,000 Gallant Bloom at 6 1/2 furlongs for fillies and mares, and the $250,000 Vosburgh, a seven-furlong sprint for 3-year-olds and up that awards the winner a berth into the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Sprint in November at Santa Anita Park as part of the “Win and You’re In” series. 

The weekend wraps up with two more Grade 2 “Win and You’re In” qualifiers on Sunday, October 1 with both events slated for juveniles at 1 1/16 miles on turf. The $200,000 Pilgrim awards a berth to the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf while the $200,000 Miss Grillo for fillies awards a berth to the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. 

Saturday, October 7 provides another stacked card of graded events, led by two Grade 1 “Win and You’re In” qualifiers at one-mile for juveniles in the $500,000 Champagne [Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile] and $400,000 Frizette [Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies]. The card is supported by the Grade 3, $200,000 Belmont Turf Sprint for 3-year-olds and up sprinting six furlongs; the Grade 3, $200,000 Fasig-Tipton Waya at 1 3/8 miles for fillies and mares; and the Grade 3, $500,000 Jockey Club Derby for sophomores, which will see its distance shortened to 1 3/8 miles from its previously-run distance of 1 1/2 miles. 

Graded action continues into the Sunday, October 8 card, including the final “Win and You’re In” event of the meet with the Grade 3, $150,000 Futurity for juveniles sprinting six furlongs on the lawn in hopes of securing a spot in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint. Also featured are the Grade 2, $250,000 Beldame at nine furlongs for fillies and mares; and the Grade 3, $150,000 Matron for juvenile fillies sprinting six furlongs on the turf. 

Saturday, October 28 will offer four stakes, including the Grade 2, $300,000 Forty Niner, which was previously run as the Kelso. The one-turn mile for 3-year-olds and up will offer the top-three finishers a free nomination and starting fee in the Grade 2 Cigar Mile to be run during the Aqueduct fall meet. Forty Niner, a multiple Grade 1-winner on the NYRA circuit, captured the 1988 Grade 1 Travers at Saratoga Race Course en route to victory in the inaugural running of the NYRA Mile Handicap which later became the Cigar Mile.

The October 28 card also includes the Grade 2, $250,000 Mother Goose, a nine-furlong test for sophomore fillies that was previously held during the Belmont spring/summer meet; the Listed $135,000 Awad for juveniles going 1 1/16 miles on turf; and the Listed $135,000 Pumpkin Pie for fillies and mares sprinting seven furlongs. 

Other graded events slated for the Belmont at the Big A fall meet are the Grade 2, $200,000 Sands Point for sophomore fillies traveling nine furlongs on the grass on October 14; the Grade 3, $150,000 Knickerbocker for 3-year-olds and up at nine furlongs on the grass on October 15; and the Grade 3, $200,000 Bold Ruler for 3-year-olds and up sprinting six furlongs on October 27. 

The fall meet’s stakes action concludes on closing day, Sunday, October 29, with Empire Showcase Day, which includes eight New York-bred stakes valued at $1.6 million in total purses. The card is highlighted by two nine-furlong events worth $250,000 in the Empire Classic and its counterpart, the Empire Distaff for fillies and mares. Empire Showcase Day will also include four $200,000 stakes in the Sleepy Hollow, Maid of the Mist, Mohawk and Ticonderoga, along with a pair of $150,000 stakes in the Iroquois and Hudson. 

For the complete Belmont at the Big A stakes schedule, visit www.NYRA.com.