NYRA Announces Spring/Summer Meet Stakes at Aqueduct

The New York Racing Association today announced the stakes schedule for the 2024 Belmont at the Big A spring/summer meet, which will open May 2 and include 32 stakes worth more than $6.6 million in total purses.

As announced in December, the ongoing construction of a new and re-imagined Belmont Park will require significant adjustments to the customary NYRA schedule. Most notably, the 2024 Belmont Stakes Racing Festival will be held at Saratoga Race Course June 6-9. In addition, the spring/summer and fall meets traditionally held at Belmont will take place at Aqueduct Racetrack in 2024.

Differences between the circumference of the Belmont and Aqueduct racetracks will require slight distance changes to several races to be contested during the Belmont at the Big A spring/summer meet.

On the turf, five races previously run at seven furlongs—the Elusive Quality, Soaring Softly, Paradise Creek, NYSSS Cupecoy's Joy, and NYSSS Spectacular Bid stakes—will be contested at six furlongs. In addition, both the Belmont Derby Invitational Stakes (G1T) and Belmont Oaks Invitational Stakes (G1T) will be contested at 1 3/16 miles on turf rather than the customary 1 1/4 miles. On the main track, the Brooklyn Stakes (G2) will be run at 1 3/8 miles rather than the traditional 1 1/2 miles.

The meet's stakes action kicks off on the May 2 opening day card with the $100,000 Affirmed Success for older New York-breds sprinting six furlongs. Graded action at the meet begins the following day in the $200,000 Sheepshead Bay Stakes (G3T) for older fillies and mares going 1 3/8 miles on the turf and the $175,000 Westchester Stakes (G3) for older horses traveling a one-turn mile.

May 4 will feature the $200,000 Fort Marcy Stakes (G2T) at 1 1/8 miles on the turf for older horses, the $200,000 Ruffian Stakes (G2) at a one-turn mile for older fillies and mares, and the listed $150,000 Elusive Quality for older horses. Three more stakes events will close out the weekend May 5 with the $175,000 Beaugay Stakes (G3T) at 1 1/16 miles on turf for older fillies and mares, and two six-furlong listed events in the $150,000 License Fee Stakes for older filly and mare turf specialists and the $150,000 Gold Fever Stakes for sophomores.

May 11, will feature the $400,000 Man o' War Stakes (G2T) for older horses traveling 1 3/8 miles on the turf; the $200,000 Peter Pan Stakes (G3) for sophomores going 1 1/8 miles—the traditional local prep for the Belmont Stakes (G1)—and the $175,000 Runhappy Stakes (G3) at six furlongs for older horses. The weekend concludes with the $175,000 Soaring Softly Stakes (G3T) for sophomore fillies on the turf May 12.

The $175,000 Vagrancy Stakes (G3) for older fillies and mares sprinting 6 1/2 furlongs will be run May 18 with the listed $150,000 Paradise Creek for sophomores to follow May 19. The $200,000 Pennine Ridge Stakes (G2T) for sophomores going 1 1/8 miles on the turf will be held May 25 followed by the $200,000 Wonder Again Stakes (G2T) at nine furlongs for sophomore fillies on May 27.

After a nearly two-week hiatus from Aqueduct for the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival at Saratoga Race Course, spring/summer meet stakes action will resume June 14 with the $150,000 NYSSS Cupecoy's Joy for eligible state-sired sophomore turf fillies.

The $200,000 Bed o' Roses Stakes (G2) for older fillies and mares sprinting seven furlongs will headline the June 15 program followed by the $150,000 Spectacular Bid division of the NYSSS for eligible state-sired sophomores on the turf June 16.

The listed $150,000 Wild Applause Stakes for sophomore fillies going one mile on turf will be run June 22 before older New York-bred fillies and mares take center stage June 23 for the six-furlong $125,000 Dancin Renee. Sophomore turf specialists will take on the one mile $250,000 Manila Stakes (G3T) June 29.

Closing week of the spring/summer meet kicks off July 4 with the $175,000 Victory Ride Stakes (G3) for sophomore fillies sprinting 6 1/2 furlongs and the listed $150,000 Perfect Sting Stakes for older fillies and mares going one mile on the lawn. July 5 will provide a new place on the racing calendar for the $200,000 Brooklyn, a marathon for older horses traditionally run on the Belmont Stakes undercard.

A stakes-laden program July 6 will feature four graded events led by the $750,000 Belmont Derby Invitational for sophomores and the $500,000 Belmont Oaks Invitational for sophomore fillies. These prestigious contests will be supported by the $200,000 John A. Nerud Stakes (G2) for older horses sprinting seven furlongs and the $200,000 Dwyer Stakes (G3) for sophomores going one mile.

The meet's stakes action concludes on closing day, July 7, with a pair of $125,000 New York-bred turf tests in the one mile Hudson Valley for older horses and the 1 1/16-mile Port Washington for older fillies and mares.

For the full Belmont at the Big A spring/summer meet stakes schedule, visit https://nyra.com/spring-summer.