Belmont Park Spring/Summer Stakes Schedule Announced

The New York Racing Association announced Jan. 18 the stakes schedule for the spring/summer meet at Belmont Park, which will feature 54 stakes races worth $15.57 million in total purses. The 40-day spring/summer meet will open May 4 and continue through July 9.

Highlighted by the 155th running of the $1.5 million Belmont Stakes (G1) June 10, the spring/summer meet will include 12 grade 1s, with nine of those contests scheduled during the three-day Belmont Stakes Racing Festival June 8-10.

The blockbuster Belmont Stakes Day program June 10 will culminate with the 1 1/2-mile "Test of the Champion" and feature three Breeders' Cup "Win And You're In" qualifiers: the $1 million Metropolitan Handicap (G1) for 3-year-olds and up going one mile (Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile, G1, qualifier); the $500,000 Ogden Phipps Stakes (G1) for older fillies and mares at 1 1/16 miles on the main track (Breeders' Cup Distaff, G1); and the $400,000 Jaipur Stakes (G1T) for 3-year-olds and up sprinting six furlongs on the grass (Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint, G1).

Five additional graded events are slated for Belmont Stakes Day, now including the $200,000 Poker Stakes (G3T) for older horses going one mile on the grass, which has been moved up one week from its traditional spot in the schedule.

Tickets for the 2023 Belmont Stakes Racing Festival will go on sale Feb. 9, at 10 a.m. ET via Ticketmaster.com.

For the first time, FOX will present comprehensive live coverage and analysis of the Belmont Stakes. In 2022, FOX Sports secured exclusive media rights for the Belmont Stakes and Belmont Stakes Racing Festival through 2030. As part of the eight-year agreement, FOX Sports will dramatically expand national television coverage of the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival.

While the total Belmont Stakes purse remains at $1.5 million, NYRA will increase the money awarded to the winning connections from 53.3% to 60%, which will result in a winner's share of $900,000 compared with $800,000 in 2022. NYRA will continue to award Belmont Stakes purse money through eighth place with 18% to 2nd, 10% to third, 5% to fourth, 3% to fifth, 2% to sixth, and 1% to seventh and eighth.

Additionally, NYRA reorganized the placement of some of its stakes during the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival and lengthened the $500,000 Acorn Stakes (G1) June 9 from a mile to 1 1/16 miles.

In another stakes change in the 3-year-old filly division, the Mother Goose Stakes (G2), which has been traditionally contested during the Belmont spring/summer meet, will be run during the Belmont at the Big A fall meet in 2023.

Following the conclusion of the three-day Belmont Stakes Racing Festival, the high-quality racing continues June 11 with two 5 1/2-furlong juvenile stakes, each offering shipping incentives for 2023. 

The $250,000 Manila Stakes (G3T), a one-mile turf test for sophomores slated for July 7, has been upgraded from listed status for 2023, and its purse increased by $150,000.

The spring/summer meet stakes action kicks off May 5, with the $200,000 Sheepshead Bay Stakes (G2T) for older fillies and mares going 1 3/8 miles on the turf and the $175,000 Westchester (G3) for older horses at one mile on the main track. The Affirmed Success, which has recently opened the stakes racing at Belmont, has been moved to April 30 at Aqueduct Racetrack.

The 40-day spring/summer meet will conclude on July 9 before racing moves to Saratoga Race Course for the annual summer meet beginning July 13.