**The complete 2010 Belmont and Aqueduct fall stakes schedules are attached to this email **
Monday, July 26, 2010
Contact: Dan Silver
dsilver@nyrainc.com
NYRA ANNOUNCES BELMONT AND AQUEDUCT FALL STAKES SCHEDULES
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) has announced the stakes programs for the 2010 Belmont Fall Championship Meet and the 2010 Aqueduct Fall Meet, featuring more than 30 graded stakes races and nearly $9 million in purses.
The Belmont meet begins on Saturday, September 11 and runs through Sunday, October 31, with 37 days of scheduled live racing. The marquee afternoon of racing falls on Saturday, October 2, with five prestigious Grade One races – the Jockey Club Gold Cup, Joe Hirsch Turf Classic, Flower Bowl, Beldame, and Vosburgh.
Other Grade One races during the Belmont meet are the Garden City on Saturday, September 28, and three on Saturday, October 9 – the Champagne, Frizette, and Jamaica.
Belmont also hosts New York Showcase Day on Saturday, October 23, which includes seven stakes races for New York-bred horses totaling $900,000 in purses and featuring a day of great activities for the entire family to enjoy.
There are also five Breeders’ Cup Challenge races during the Belmont Fall Championship Meet, comprising the Gallant Bloom on Saturday, September 25, the Pilgrim and Miss Grillo on Sunday, October 3, and the aforementioned Champagne and Frizette. The winners of those races will earn automatic entry into the corresponding Breeders’ Cup races.
One notable surface change for the Belmont meet is that the Grade 2 Kelso on Sunday, October 3, previously run on the turf, has been changed to a dirt race. Other changes include the following races being put on hiatus for the Belmont fall meet: the Matron, Futurity, Jerome, Lonesome Glory, Joseph Gimma, and Bertram Bongard. Those races are eligible to return in 2011 with the same graded status.
In addition, ten races – the Beldame, Joe Hirsch Turf Classic, Flower Bowl, Empire Classic, Vosburgh, Champagne, Frizette, Mohawk, Ticonderoga, and Garden City – underwent purse reductions.
The 2010 Aqueduct Fall meeting starts on Friday, November 5 and goes through New Year’s Eve, Friday December 31, with 36 live racing days scheduled.
The premier day of racing is on Saturday, November 27, featuring the Grade 1 Hill ‘n’ Dale Cigar Mile, the Grade 1 Gazelle, the Grade 2 Remsen, and the Grade 2 Demoiselle.
Three races – the New York Stallion Series Cormorant and Perfect Arc Divisions, and the Stuyvesant – were put on hiatus from the 2010 Aqueduct meet, while the Cigar Mile and Gazelle each underwent purse reductions.
“Our fall stakes programs rank among the tops in the industry and we are looking forward to great racing at Belmont Park and Aqueduct,” NYRA President and CEO Charles Hayward said. “The changes that we made to the meets are a reflection of the current economic climate and the nationwide reductions in the horse population.”
Founded in 1955, and franchised to run thoroughbred racing at New York’s three major tracks through 2033, NYRA boasts a lineage that actually stretches back almost 150 years. NYRA tracks are the cornerstone of the state’s thoroughbred business which contributes more than $2 billion annually to New York State’s urban, suburban and rural economy. In 2009, more than 1.6 million people attended the live races at NYRA tracks. Factoring nationwide off-track wagering, the average daily betting handle on NYRA races alone totals more than $9.3 million every race day. NYRA has a vast network of websites, including www.nyra.com, www.belmontstakes.com, and www.nyragroupsales.com. You can also follow NYRA on social media platforms Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, and YouTube.
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