NYRA announces 2022 dates
ELMONT, N.Y. – The New York Racing Association has scheduled 202 days of racing for 2022, with a schedule that is very much in line with what was run in 2021, the company announced Thursday.
The January-through-March portion of the Aqueduct winter meet will consist of 46 days from Jan. 1 through March 27. Racing will be conducted four days a week in January and February and three days a week in March. The only notable change is there will not be live racing on Martin Luther King Jr. Day (Jan. 17).
The Aqueduct spring meet will consist of 15 days from March 31 to April 24 before Belmont Park opens its spring/summer meet, which lasts 44 days from April 28 through July 10.
The opening day of the Belmont spring meet coincides with the final regular season game for the NHL’s New York Islanders, a 7 p.m. match against the defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning.
The Islanders are scheduled to begin playing in the UBS Arena at Belmont Park next month.
The 40-day Saratoga meet runs from July 14 through Sept. 5, followed by the Belmont fall meet (Sept. 15 through Oct. 30), Aqueduct fall meet (Nov. 4 through Dec. 4), and the start of the Aqueduct 2022-23 winter meet on Dec. 8.
The stakes schedule for 2022 will be announced at a later date, though it’s obvious the Belmont Stakes will be held June 11.
◗ For those planning to attend the races at Belmont on Sunday, be advised that the Cross Island Parkway will be closed beginning 10 p.m. Saturday night through 8 p.m. Sunday to allow for the installation of steel girders over the parkway to support platforms for the future Elmont train station.