Belmont fall stakes restored to pre-pandemic purse levels
ELMONT, N.Y. -- There will be 47 stakes with purses totaling $11.15 million offered at the 28-day Belmont Park fall meet, the New York Racing Association announced Tuesday. Virtually all races have had their purses restored to 2019 levels after all had severe cuts in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The major changes to the schedule were previously announced as NYRA has moved the Jockey Club Gold Cup and Flower Bowl -- Grade 1 stakes run for decades at this meet -- to Saratoga. The Woodward, run at Saratoga since 2006, has been moved back to Belmont. The Grade 1, $500,000 Woodward will be run as a one-turn, 1 1/8-mile race on Oct. 2.
The Woodward shares billing on the same card as the Grade 1, $500,000 Champagne for 2-year-olds, the Grade 2, $200,000 Miss Grillo for 2-year-old fillies on turf, and the Grade 3, $200,000 Belmont Turf Sprint Invitational.
The Grade 3, $300,000 Waya Stakes, a 1 3/8-mile turf race for fillies and mares, has been moved from Saratoga to Belmont to take the place of the Flower Bowl. The Waya will be run on Oct. 3 along with the Grade 1, $400,000 Frizette for 2-year-old fillies, and the Grade 2, $200,000 Pilgrim for 2-year-olds on turf.
The Grade 1, $500,000 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic for males, tops an Oct. 9 card that includes the Grade 2, $250,000 Vosburgh for sprinters, and the Grade 3, $150,000 Matron for 2-year-old fillies on turf.
The richest race of the meet is the $1 million Jockey Club Derby for 3-year-olds at 1 1/2 miles on turf on Sept. 18. That ungraded race, and not the Joe Hirsch, offers its winner a fees-paid berth into the $4 million Breeders’ Cup Turf. The $700,000 Jockey Club Oaks for 3-year-old fillies at 1 3/8 miles on turf will also be run Sept. 18.
Other Breeders’ Cup qualifying races at the meet include the Champagne, Frizette, Vosburgh, and Futurity, the last named a Grade 3, $150,000 six-furlong turf race for 2-year-olds scheduled for Oct. 10.
There are three new turf sprints -- all $100,000 races at seven furlongs -- on the schedule, including the Glen Cove for 3-year-old fillies (Oct. 15), the Carle Place for 3-year-olds (Oct. 22), and the Oyster Bay for 3-year-olds and up (Oct. 29).
New York Showcase Day, a card devoted entirely to New York-breds with eight stakes totaling $1.75 million, will be held Oct. 30. The following day, the Grade 3, $200,000 Bold Ruler Handicap tops a five-stakes program.
The Belmont meet runs from Sept. 16 through Oct. 31 with racing conducted Thursdays through Sundays.