NYRA Releases Stakes Schedule For Aqueduct Winter Meet

The New York Racing Association announced Nov. 26 the race dates and schedule for 45 stakes races over the 2019-20 winter meet at Aqueduct Racetrack. The winter meet begins Dec. 12 and continues through March 29. 

January will feature 17 dates with live racing generally conducted Thursday through Sunday with one exception being a Wednesday card on New Year's Day. That holiday card will be highlighted by the $150,000 Jerome Stakes for freshly minted 3-year-olds, as part of New York's road to the spring classics. Also, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day holiday card is slated for Monday, Jan. 20 and features the $100,000 Interborough Stakes for fillies and mares aged 4-years-old and up. There will be no live racing Jan. 2 and Jan. 16 to accommodate the holiday programs.

The February racing calendar also will include 17 dates with live racing generally conducted Thursday through Sunday with the exception of the special Presidents' Day card Feb. 17. The graded stakes action will kick off Feb. 1 with the $250,000 Withers Stakes (G3), the second race on New York's road to the Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve (G1). There will be no live racing Feb. 13 to offset the Presidents' Day card.

A total of 13 racing cards are set for March, which will see live racing conducted Friday through Sunday. March 7 will feature four stakes, including two graded. The centerpiece is another Derby prep, the $300,000 Gotham Stakes (G3), that will see sophomores run at one mile at Aqueduct with 50-20-10-5 qualifying Derby points to its top four finishers. The packed card also includes the $200,000 Tom Fool Handicap (G3) for 4-year-olds and up going six furlongs; the $250,000 Busher Invitational Stakes for 3-year-old fillies; and the $125,000 Stymie Stakes for 4-year-olds and up.

The 2019-20 winter meet stakes action kicks off with New York-bred talent competing in the New York Stallion Stakes Series. Dec. 14 will see 2-year-olds going seven furlongs in the $500,000 Great White Way Stakes while the 2-year-old fillies will run in the $500,000 Fifth Avenue Stakes Dec. 15.

The $125,000 Queens County Stakes Dec. 21, followed by the $100,000 Gravesend Stakes Dec. 22, will conclude stakes action before the Christmas break. A pair of $100,000 contests for New York-breds, featuring the Alex M. Robb Stakes Dec. 28 and the Bay Ridge Stakes Dec. 29 will close the curtain on stakes races for 2019.

On its final weekend, the 59-day winter meet will feature a stakes-laden card on New York Claiming Championship Day, Mar. 28 and the $100,000 East View Stakes March 29. 

2019-20 Aqueduct Winter Meet stakes schedule: