New York horsemen settle in for long stretch at Aqueduct
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OZONE PARK, N.Y. – The rock band the Eagles kicked off its farewell tour dubbed “The Long Goodbye” last week at New York’s Madison Square Garden. Aqueduct Racetrack located some 15 miles away from MSG, begins its own long goodbye run Thursday.
With a multi-year renovation project well under way at Belmont Park, the New York Racing Association is planning on conducting racing at Aqueduct for roughly 29 of the next 33 months. The exceptions are the eight weeks each summer when racing is held at Saratoga, plus the expected one-week meets in June 2024 and June 2025 when the Belmont Stakes would be held at the Spa. There are still approvals needed from the state for the latter to occur, but those seem more like a formality.
The first leg of Aqueduct’s Long Goodbye tour will be known as Belmont at the Big A. The seven weeks, or 28 dates, from Thursday through Oct. 29, will host the stakes program that would normally have been conducted at Belmont Park. This is the second year that Belmont’s fall meet has been displaced to Aqueduct.
The schedule includes 42 flat stakes worth $9,050,000. As recently as 2019, this fall meet consisted of six Grade 1 stakes. This fall, there are only three – the Joe Hirsch, Champagne, and Frizette.
The Champagne and Frizette, both scheduled for Oct. 7, are two of six Breeders’ Cup qualifying races offered at this meet. The Vosburgh, which lost its Grade 1 status in 2020, the Pilgrim, Miss Grillo, and Futurity are the other races offering automatic berths into the Nov. 3-4 Breeders’ Cup at Santa Anita.
Last year’s Vosburgh was won by Elite Power who would go on to win the Breeders’ Cup Sprint. This year’s Vosburgh, scheduled for Sept. 30, is expected to be the next start for Cody’s Wish, who had a six-race win streak snapped when finishing third in the Grade 1 Whitney at Saratoga.
In addition to the Vosburgh, the Sept. 30 card includes the $500,000 Joe Hirsch, the Grade 2, $400,000 Woodward, and Grade 2, $250,000 Gallant Bloom.
The Champagne and Frizette, both worth $500,000, top the Oct. 7 card that also includes the Grade 3, $500,000 Jockey Club Derby – which had its purse cut from $1 million – as well as the Grade 3, $200,000 Belmont Turf Sprint and Grade 3, $200,000 Waya. The Oct. 8 card has the Grade 2, $250,000 Beldame, Grade 3, $150,000 Futurity, and Grade 3, $150,000 Matron.
From Thursday through Oct. 1, first post at Aqueduct is 1:05 p.m. Beginning Oct. 5, first post moves to 12:35 p.m.
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