Aqueduct offering 33 stakes, 10 graded, at fall meeting

Aqueduct will offer 33 stakes worth $6.385 million during its 31-day fall meet, Nov. 2-Dec. 31, the New York Racing Association announced Wednesday.

There will be 10 graded stakes topped by the Grade 2 Cigar Mile, downgraded from a Grade 1 by the American Graded Stakes Committee. The NYRA has cut the purse of the race to $600,000 from $750,000.

The Cigar Mile will be held on a Dec. 2 card that includes the Grade 2, $250,000 Remsen for 2-year-olds, the Grade 2, $250,000 Demoiselle for 2-year-old fillies, and the Grade 3, $200,000 Go for Wand Handicap for fillies and mares 3 years old and up.

The Grade 2, $300,000 Red Smith, for 3-year-olds and up at 1 3/8 miles on turf, and the Grade 3, $200,000 Pebbles -- the latter a one-mile turf race for 3-year-old fillies previously run at Belmont Park’s fall meet -- top the Nov. 11 card. The Grade 3, $300,000 Long Island, for females at 1 3/8 miles on turf, will be run Nov. 12.

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NYRA has moved a bevy of stakes from Thanksgiving weekend to the previous weekend, offering eight stakes, six scheduled for turf on Nov. 17-19. The Nov. 17 card includes the $150,000 Autumn Days, for female sprinters, and $120,000 Tepin, for 2-year-old fillies, both on turf. The Nov. 18 card is topped by the Grade 3, $250,000 Hill Prince for 3-year-olds on turf. That race, previously worth $300,000, has typically been run at Belmont’s fall meet. That card also includes the $150,000 Aqueduct Turf Sprint Championship and the Key Cents and Notebook, a pair of six-furlong dirt stakes for New York-bred juvenile fillies and juveniles, respectively.

The Nov. 19 card will include the $135,000 Forever Together (fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up) and $120,000 Central Park Stakes (2-year-olds), the final two turf stakes of the year.

The Grade 3, $200,000 Fall Highweight (Nov. 24) and the Grade 3, $200,000 Comely Stakes (Nov. 25) are the only two stakes offered on Thanksgiving weekend. There is no racing on Thanksgiving Day.

In addition to the Cigar Mile, two other downgraded stakes are the $150,000 Turnback the Alarm (Nov. 3) and the $150,000 Nashua (Nov. 5), both now listed stakes after losing their Grade 3 status.

The Dec. 16 card offers two $500,000 stakes for 2-year-old progeny of New York-based stallions -- the Great White Way for males and the Fifth Avenue for fillies, both at seven furlongs.

The Winter Memories and Gio Ponti, turf stakes for 3-year-old fillies and 3-year-olds, respectively, were moved from the Aqueduct fall to the Belmont at the Big A meet, which runs from Sept. 14-Oct. 29.

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