Christiecat Stakes Featured on Belmont Opening Day

Stakes-placed Saint Moon, who has thrived since being moved to the turf, will look to secure her first stakes win Sept. 6 in the $100,000 Christiecat Stakes, the featured race on opening day of a Belmont Park fall meeting that will feature some changes to allow for construction going on at the Elmont, N.Y., property.

The meet features 37 days of racing and offers 45 stakes that award a total of $11.53 million in purse money as well as eight Breeders' Cup Challenge "Win and You're In" bids. That stakes schedule will begin Friday when an expected nine 3-year-old fillies line up for the Christiecat, a six-furlong sprint on the inner turf.

Ivan Rodriguez and Albert and Michelle Crawford's Saint Moon enters the Christiecat off a frontrunning score in an Aug. 10 allowance race sprinting on the Saratoga Race Course turf. The daughter of The Factor  enjoyed a clear advantage throughout under Luis Saez in that 5 1/2-furlong test and scored by 2 1/4 lengths.

Trained by Jorge Navarro, Saint Moon finished off the board in a pair of maiden races on dirt in December and January at Gulfstream Park. She returned to racing in June and, switched to turf, rolled to a two-length maiden win at Monmouth Park. Then, making her stakes debut July 14 in Monmouth's 5 1/2-furlong Blue Sparkler Stakes, Saint Moon led into the stretch before yielding to Missmizz and finished second.

Saez was aboard for both of Saint Moon's wins, and he's named to ride Friday.

The three stakes winners in the field earned those victories overseas. Athlone Racing's Rose Flower will make her U.S. debut for trainer Christophe Clement off a clear victory in the Prix Amandine, a seven-furlong race contested July 5 at Maisons-Laffitte. Also making her U.S. debut will be Comedy, a group 3 winner in France last year who is now trained by Michael Dickinson.

Trainer Graham Motion will saddle Bermuda Thoroughbred Racing's Queen of Bermuda, a group 3 winner in England who has earned a pair of stakes placings in North America this season. In November, Queen of Bermuda finished fourth in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint in her U.S. debut, where she faced males.

Belmont's opening weekend is highlighted by Saturday's inaugural edition of the $1 million Jockey Club Derby Invitational Stakes, a Breeders' Cup Challenge Series race offering a berth in the Longines Turf (G1). The race wraps up the first year of the Turf Trinity series. The card also includes the debut of the $750,000 Jockey Club Oaks Invitational Stakes to conclude the Turf Tiara. Additionally, the card will feature the first running of the $300,000 Grand Prix American Jockey Club Invitational Stakes for 4-year-olds and up at 1 1/2 miles on Big Sandy.

NBC will have live coverage and analysis of the Jockey Club Oaks and Jockey Club Derby as part of a nationwide broadcast from 4:30-6 p.m. ET.

The fall meet will feature some adjustments in light of the construction of a new arena at Belmont for the New York Islanders. As previously announced, the first 23 days of the 37-day fall meet will be held at Belmont before shifting to Aqueduct Racetrack for "Belmont at the Big A" beginning Oct. 11 and continuing through Oct. 27. The traditional Aqueduct fall meet then picks up Nov. 1, and continues through Dec. 1.

Beginning Friday at Belmont, weekday live racing will feature a first post time of 3 p.m. to ensure the continuity of racing operations during arena construction. On weekdays, the Belmont Cafe will open for simulcasting at noon, with all entry gates open to the public at 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays will feature a first post of 1 p.m. with entry gates and the cafe open to the public at 11 a.m.

Vehicle access to Belmont Park will be available only through Gate 5 off Hempstead Turnpike and Gate 8 off Plainfield Avenue. Direct access from the Cross Island Parkway to Belmont Park is no longer available. Parking will be $5 in the Silver Lot, $10 in the Gold Lot, and free in the Blue Lot. There will be shuttle buses for fans on all Saturdays as well as Sunday, Sept. 15, between the Blue Lot and the Clubhouse.

Long Island Railroad service to the Belmont Park station will resume Friday, Oct. 6. Patrons using the LIRR to Belmont will access the grounds via the west end of the grandstand. Click for updated and current LIRR schedule.