Finger Lakes begins 90-day meet
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Familiar annual stakes with six-figure purses and a new distance claiming series will highlight the 2023 season at Finger Lakes Racetrack, which opens Monday.
The 90-day season at Finger Lakes, in Farmington, N.Y., runs through Nov. 22. The schedule sports 14 stakes, with summer showcases for New York-bred sophomores in the $150,000 New York Derby on July 17 and the $75,000 New York Oaks on July 24.
The New York Derby has showcased stellar statebred 3-year-olds who have gone on to compete well against open company at the highest levels. In recent years, it has been won by millionaire Bankit (2019), who is a multiple open stakes winner, and by Americanrevolution (2021), who went on to win the Grade 1 Cigar Mile.
The track’s richest race and one of its most historic is the $200,000 New York Breeders’ Futurity, set this year for Oct. 16. Finger Lakes has a pair of $100,000 local preps in the Aspirant and Lady Finger, for fillies, on Sept. 25.
The Futurity, run since 1963, has been won by Finger Lakes legends such as Proud Puppy (1988), Jack Betta Be Rite (1989), and Shesastonecoldfox (2001), as well as by nationally familiar names like Say Florida Sandy (1996) and Mellow Roll (1997).
Finger Lakes’ distance claiming series is named for another local legend, North Warning, the current track record holder at 1 5/8 miles. The series will include three legs and a final, with distances increasing for each race.
“Finger Lakes Gaming and Racetrack has a longtime history of distance racing, and I’m very happy to bring back some semblance from the past,” racing secretary Jerry Richards said in a press release.
The first leg of the North Warning series, at a mile and 70 yards on June 19, will be run as a $5,000 claimer, with a purse of $12,600-added per division. The claiming price and purse increase to $6,250 and $15,000, respectively, for two 1 1/8-mile legs on July 31. The claiming price climbs to $8,000 for leg three, at 1 1/4 miles on Sept. 11, and has a purse of $20,000.
Horses earn their way into the series final by earning points through the three preliminary legs, with the top 12 point-earners awarded a berth. In the event of a claim, the points will follow the horse. The series final, run under starter conditions, is set for Oct. 23 at 1 5/8 miles, with a purse of $25,000.
There is a one-time $250 nomination fee to the series, which is due by June 7. All nomination fees will be added to the purses of legs one and two. Supplemental nominations of $1,000 will be accepted from June 8 through July 19, and will be added to the purse of the third leg.
◗ The winningest horse at Finger Lakes in 2022, Warriors Revenge, is off to a solid start in 2023.
Warriors Revenge, owned by Windylea Farm, won all seven of his appearances at Finger Lakes last year. He shifted to Aqueduct for its winter-spring season, with four starts against New York-breds from December to March yielding a win in a Jan. 8 allowance and three third-place finishes.
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