A trio of stakes for 3-year-old males and a pair of races for 3-year-old fillies that offer qualifying points to the Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks, respectively, highlight the 2026 Aqueduct winter stakes program announced Wednesday by the New York Racing Association.  There are 45 scheduled cards during the winter meet that runs Jan. 1- March 29. Racing will be conducted mostly four days a week (Thursdays through Sundays) until Feb. 20, when racing will be held three days a week (Fridays through Sundays) through March 29.  The Grade 3, $300,000 Gotham, a one-mile race for 3-year-olds on Feb. 28, offers 105 total qualifying points (50-25-15-10-5) to the May 2 Kentucky Derby and is the richest of 20 stakes offered during the meet. Stakes purses are worth a total of $3.135 million.  Preceding the Gotham on New York’s road to the Kentucky Derby are the $150,000 Jerome, also a one-mile race, on Jan. 3 that offers 21 Derby points (10-5-3-2-1) to its top five finishers, and the $200,000 Withers, a 1 1/8-mile race on Jan. 31 offering 42 Derby points (20-10-6-4-2). The Withers had its purse cut from $250,000 in 2025.  That trio of races leads to the Wood Memorial, which offers 200 Derby points (100-50-25-15-10) and is likely to be run April 4. The spring meet schedule was not announced.  :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. For 3-year-old fillies attempting to earn points to the May 1 Kentucky Oaks, Aqueduct offers the $150,000 Busanda (10-5-3-2-1) on Jan. 3 and the $200,000 Busher (50-25-15-10-5) on Feb. 28. Both races are run at one mile, the Busanda having been shortened from 1 1/8 miles and moved up on the calendar by two weeks.  The Busanda received a $25,000 purse increase.  Those two races are stepping-stones to the Gazelle Stakes, which offers 200 Oaks points (100-50-25-15-10) and is likely to be run on April 4 as part of the spring meet.  The Jan. 31 Withers card will also include the Toboggan, which got a purse reduction from $175,000 to $150,000 and the Ruthless, a seven-furlong race for 3-year-old fillies and one of 11 stakes offered this winter that received a $10,000 increase to $135,000.  Aside from the Gotham, the only other graded race at the meet is the Grade 3, $175,000 Tom Fool for older males going six furlongs on Feb. 28. The Gotham, Busher, and Tom Fool are joined on the Feb. 28 card by the $150,000 Stymie for older males going one mile.   The Top Flight, for older females, and the Haynesfield, for older New York-bred males, were moved from the spring meet to the March 29 closing day card of the winter meet. The Top Flight received a $25,000 purse increase to $175,000.  The $150,000 Heavenly Prize, a one-mile race for older females, and the $125,000 Broadway, for older New York-bred female sprinters, were not carded for 2026.  :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.