NYRA adds more racing days at Saratoga in 2025

OZONE PARK, N.Y. -- The New York Racing Association has scheduled 200 racing dates in 2025, 49 of which will take place at Saratoga.

The 200 dates are five more than were scheduled in 2024.

Aqueduct’s winter meet will consist of 49 programs from Jan. 1 through March 30. Aside from a card on New Year’s Day, which falls on a Wednesday, racing for the most part will be conducted four days a week (Thursdays through Sundays) in January and February. Starting March 7, there will be three-day race weeks, Fridays through Sundays, through the end of the month.

Four-day race weeks will resume for Aqueduct’s 15-day spring meet (April 3-27) though the track will be dark on Easter (April 20).

:: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match + FREE All Access PPs! Join DRF Bets.

The 37-day Belmont at the Big A spring meet will run from May 1 through July 6. However, nine of those days will be held at Saratoga. The five-day Belmont Stakes Racing Festival -- one day longer than usual -- will be conducted June 4-8 with the Belmont Stakes scheduled for June 7. Due to the renovation of Belmont Park, this will be the second straight year the Belmont Stakes, the third and final leg of racing’s Triple Crown, will be held at Saratoga and run at 1 1/4 miles as opposed to its usual 1 1/2-mile distance

Following the June 8 card, racing returns to Aqueduct on June 12 and will be held there through the end of June. Racing moves back to Saratoga for the July 4 Racing Festival at Saratoga (July 3-6), which will be considered the final week of the Belmont at the Big A meet.

The regular 40-day Saratoga meet, with one four-day week, six five-day weeks, and one six-day week, runs from July 10-Sept. 1.

The 32-day Belmont at the Big A fall meet runs from Sept. 11-Nov. 2. Aqueduct’s 27-day fall meet runs from Nov. 6-Dec. 31. There will be an 11-day holiday break from Dec. 15-25.

:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.