| ** Corrects amount of capital improvements** Sunday, October 26, 2014 Contact: Sean Morris smorris@nyrainc.com Thoroughbred racing action moves to Aqueduct on October 29 OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Thoroughbred racing action moves to Aqueduct Racetrack on Wednesday, October 29, where opening weekend will feature the simulcast of the Breeders' Cup World Championships from Santa Anita Park, as well as a trio of graded stakes at the Big A. On opening day, guests will be greeted by more than $14 million in capital improvements to the facility designed to enhance the guest experience. Notable upgrades include high-definition infield video boards equipped with Trakus technology, 557 flat screen, HD televisions and new airport-style seating, to go along with a host of improvements designed to increase the quality and safety of racing. Racing fans can cheer on their favorite New York horses and watch and wager on all of the Breeders' Cup action on Friday, October 31 and Saturday, November 1. Admission to the Big A is free, with gates opening at 11 a.m. Aqueduct's first race post time on Friday and Saturday is 1 p.m. In addition to the Breeders' Cup simulcast, Aqueduct offers live racing over the five-day opening week, highlighted by Saturday's 71st running of the Grade 3, $200,000 Discovery Handicap for 3-year-olds and a pair of one-mile juvenile events on Sunday: the Grade 2, $250,000 Nashua and the Grade 3, $250,000 Tempted for fillies. The Discovery is the first of 11 graded stakes at the Big A through the end of 2014, including the meet's centerpiece, the Grade 1, $500,000 Cigar Mile Handicap on Saturday, November 29. The purse incentive for the race, which was introduced in 2013, will remain intact. Any previous Grade 1 winner who competes in the Cigar Mile will race for a gross purse of $750,000, while a winner of any Breeders' Cup race will run for a purse of $1 million. Five other graded stakes round out the holiday racing action, which kicks off with the Grade 3, $300,000 Fall Highweight Handicap on Thanksgiving Day, November 27, and continues on Friday with the Grade 2, $300,000 Go for Wand Handicap. Joining the Cigar Mile on Saturday are the Grade 2, $400,000 Remsen for 2-year-olds; the Grade 2, $400,000 Demoiselle for 2-year-old fillies; and the Grade 3, $400,000 Comely for 3-year-old fillies. Post time on Thanksgiving Day is 11:25 a.m., with the first race going off at noon on Friday and Saturday, November 29 and 30. There will be a $200,000 Guaranteed Late Pick 4 on all Saturdays beginning November 8. The annual Aqueduct handicapping tournament - the New York Handicappers Series - will produce the final group of horseplayers from NYRA who move onto the Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championships in January in Las Vegas, where the first prize will be approximately $750,000. The popular Aqueduct contest, which has a $400 entry fee with all fees returned as cash prizes, will take place on Saturday and Sunday, November 15 and 16. Aqueduct Racetrack generally will be open Wednesday through Sunday with a first-race post time of 12:20 p.m. The Big A will be closed for live racing from Tuesday, December 16 through Christmas Day, Thursday, December 25, and will reopen for live racing on Friday, December 26. -30- |
