NYRA Aqueduct, Belmont, Saratoga 2008 Stakes Schedule

Posted on Friday, December 21st, 2007

The New York Racing Association (NYRA) released 2008 stakes schedule for Aqueduct, Belmont Park and Saratoga Race Course. The schedule, worth more than $34,000,000, was approved by NYRA’s Board of Trustees at its monthly meeting and awaits approval from the New York State Racing and Wagering Board.

There are no changes in NYRA’s biggest horse races for 2008. At Belmont Park, the 140th running of the Grade 1, $1 million Belmont Stakes, the 1 1/2 mile final leg of racing’s Triple Crown for three-year-olds, will be run on Saturday, June 7, while the 90th running of the Grade 1, $750,000 Jockey Club Gold Cup for three-year-olds and up at a mile and a quarter will be run during the Fall Championship Meet on Saturday, September 27.

Saratoga Race Course‘s biggest race, the 139th running of the Grade 1, $1 million Travers Stakes, the 1 1/4 mile “Mid-Summer Derby” for three-year-olds, will be run on Saturday, August 23.

Aqueduct will play host to the 84th running of the Grade 1, $750,000 Wood Memorial for three-year-olds at nine furlongs on Saturday, April 5, four weeks before the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky on Saturday, May 3. During the Big A’s Fall Meet, the Grade 1, $300,000 Hill ‘n’ Dale Cigar Mile for three-year-olds and up will be run on Saturday, November 29.

The major changes are in the handicap turf division, with the running of the Grade 1, $500,000 Man o’ War for three-olds and up at 11 furlongs on the turf on Saturday, July 12. The Man o’ War had been a staple of the Belmont Park Fall Championship Meet. It will replace the Bowling Green on the 2008 schedule.

Meanwhile, Saratoga’s Grade 1, $500,000 Sword Dancer Invitational, which is normally run on the third Saturday of the meet, has been moved back a week to share the card with the Spa’s biggest race for three-year-old fillies, the Grade 1, $600,000 Alabama, on Saturday, August 16.

“Moving the Man o’ War to the spring gave better spacing for our turf races,” said Paul J. Campo, NYRA racing secretary and handicapper. “In previous years, we had three races in a seven-week span: the Sword Dancer at Saratoga, and the Man o’ War and Turf Classic at Belmont Park. We found that schedule didn’t really work. One of the races was always getting hurt, and usually, that was the middle one.

“So, we decided to move the Man o’ War in the Bowling Green spot. The schedule for older horses on turf, and they are all Grade 1 races, now looks like this:

Manhattan Handicap, Belmont Stakes Day, June 7
Man o’ War, July 12
Sword Dancer Invitational, August 16
Joe Hirsch Turf Classic Invitational, September 27

“This gives a month from the Turf Classic to the (2008) Breeders’ Cup (October 24-25, Santa Anita).”

The upgrading of the Just A Game to Grade 1 status will mean that NYRA will host 39 of the nation’s 110 Grade 1 races in 2008. The Just A Game, for fillies and mares at a mile on the turf, also received a $100,000 boost and is now worth $400,000. It will be run on Belmont Stakes Day, Saturday, June 7.

“The Just a Game is a great race and it deserved a Grade 1 upgrading,” Campo said. “It adds to our powerful fillies and mares category with the Flower Bowl and Diana also being Grade 1s. Now on Belmont Day, we have four Grade 1s and two Grade 2s.”

Including the Just A Game, five NYRA races were upgraded by the American Graded Stakes Committee for 2008: the Lake George at Saratoga was upgraded from Grade 3 to Grade 2 status, while at Belmont Park, the Miss Grillo was upgraded to Grade 3, the Sands Point to Grade 2, and the Pilgrim to Grade 3.

The Nassau County Breeders’ Cup at Belmont Park was downgraded to Grade 3.

Aqueduct Winter/Spring Meet
83 days, January 1-April 27
Dark Mondays and Tuesday, except:
Open: Mondays, January 21 and February 18; Tuesdays, January 1
Dark: Wednesdays, January 2, 23 and February 20; Sundays, March 16 and 23
Post times: 12:30 a.m. daily (January 1 – March 2)
1 p.m. daily (March 5 – April 27)

Saturday, April 5 is the big day of the meet with the first Grade 1 races in New York for 2008: the Wood Memorial and the $300,000 Carter Handicap for three-year-olds and up at seven furlongs.

The traditional major prep for the Wood Memorial, the Grade 3, $250,000 Gotham at a mile and a sixteenth, will be run on Saturday, March 8.

Belmont Park Spring/Summer Meet
59 days, April 30-July 20
Dark Mondays and Tuesdays except:
Open: Monday, May 26
Dark: Wednesday, May 28 and Sunday, June 8
Post times: 1 p.m. daily; Except:
3 p.m., Sunset Fridays, June 13-July 18; noon Belmont Stakes Day, June 7

The 140th running of the Belmont Stakes on June 7 tops a day of six graded stakes. With the upgrade of the Just A Game, the day features three Grade 1s (including the $400,000 Manhattan Handicap) and two Grade 2 races: the Woody Stephens and True North Handicap. The True North received a $50,000 purse boost to $250,000.

One of New York’s more historic races, the Brooklyn Handicap, is once again a mile and a half. The 120th running of the Grade 2, $200,000 Brooklyn Handicap moves from the Fall Championship Meet and will be run the day before the Belmont Stakes on Friday, June 6.

“The Breeders’ Cup has added a $500,000 race on October 24 (Dirt Marathon), so some racetracks have worked together to create a pattern for this category,” Campo said. “Keeneland, California, New York and Philadelphia Park are putting on similar races as well.”

Although the Man o’ War replaces the Bowling Green, the Bowling Green is not extinct.

“The Bowling Green retains its Grade 2 if we don’t drop it for more than two years,” Campo said. “We can always bring the Bowling Green back into the mix at some point.”

The $150,000 Sands Point for three-year-old fillies at nine furlongs on the turf will be run on Saturday, May 31 and was upgraded to Grade 2 status.

Saratoga Race Course Meet
36 days, July 23-September 1
Dark Tuesdays
Post times: 1 p.m. daily except:
2:45 p.m. on Friday, July 25 and August 29
Noon on Travers Day, August 23

The $150,000 Lake George for three-year-old fillies on the turf on Friday, July 25 was upgraded to Grade 2 status.

The $100,000-added Yaddo for New York-bred fillies and mares at nine furlongs on the turf will take the Sword Dancer’s traditional spot on Saturday, August 9.

Belmont Park Fall Championship Meet
38 days, September 5 – October 26
Dark Mondays and Tuesdays except:
Open: Monday, October 13
Dark: Wednesday, October 15
Post time: 1 p.m. daily
TBA, Breeders’ Cup, Friday, Saturday, October 24-25

The $150,000-added Pilgrim for two-year-olds at a mile and a sixteenth on the turf was upgraded from listed to Grade 3.The $150,000-added Miss Grillo, for two-year-old fillies at a mile and a sixteenth on the turf, also was upgraded to Grade rade 3. Both races will be run on September 28.

New York Showcase Day, featuring the $250,000 Empire Classic, will be run on Saturday, October 18.

Aqueduct Fall Meet
39 days, October 29-December 31
Dark Mondays and Tuesdays; Christmas break, December 15-25
Post times: 12:30 p.m. Daily except:
12:25 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, November 28 and 29
11:25 a.m. on Thursday, November 27 (Thanksgiving Day)
HolidayFest will run from Thursday, November 27 (Thanksgiving Day) through Sunday, November 30.

The Grade 3 $100,000-added Discovery Handicap for three-year-olds at nine furlongs has been moved up a week to Saturday, November 22.

This post was modified from NYRA’s release.

"NYRA Aqueduct, Belmont, Saratoga 2008 Stakes Schedule" was posted on Friday, December 21st, 2007 at 9:41 pm and is filed under Aqueduct, Belmont Park, Belmont Stakes, Horse Racing Industry, Race Tracks News, Saratoga, Stakes Races, Triple Crown, USA Horse Racing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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