Belmont Stakes Racing Festival expanded to three days in 2015

Belmont Stakes Racing Festival expanded to three days in

2015

The New York Racing Association on Friday released its stakes schedule for

the 2015 spring/summer meet at Belmont Park, featuring 60 stakes races worth

$18.55 million throughout the course of the 59-day meet.

The centerpiece of the meet will be the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival,

expanded to three days and anchored by the 147th running of the Grade 1, $1.5

million Belmont Stakes on June 6. The 1 1/2-mile Belmont -- the coveted final

jewel of racing's Triple Crown -- will be supported by a blockbuster card that

includes five other Grade 1 races: The $1.25 million Metropolitan Handicap at a

mile, the $1 million Manhattan at 1 1/4 miles on the turf, the $1 million Ogden

Phipps for fillies and mares at 1 1/16 miles, the $750,000 Acorn for

three-year-old fillies and the $700,000 Just a Game at a mile for turf fillies

and mares.

Also that day will be the Grade 2, $500,000 Woody Stephens for

three-year-olds going seven furlongs; the Grade 2, $400,000 Brooklyn for for

four-year-olds and up going 1 1/2 miles; the Grade 3, $300,000 Jaipur for turf

sprinters, and the $150,000, 1 1/16-mile Easy Goer for sophomores.

With the Belmont Stakes Draw scheduled on June 3 at Rockefeller Center in

Manhattan, an abbreviated week will kick off on June 4 with the $150,000

Intercontinental for turf fillies and mares going seven furlongs and an enhanced

edition of the 5 1/2-furlong Astoria for two-year-old fillies, which this year

boasts a purse of $250,000.

On June 5, the festival continues as Belmont Park will offer five stakes

races worth $1.2 million, including the Grade 2, $300,000 New York for turf

fillies and mares going 1 1/4 miles and the Grade 2, $250,000 True North at six

furlongs for four-year-olds and up. Supporting the graded stakes are the

$250,000 Belmont Gold Cup for four-year-olds and up at two miles on the turf,

the $150,000 Jersey Girl for three-year-old filly sprinters, and the Astoria's

twin race, the 5 1/2-furlong Tremont for juveniles, also with a purse of

$250,000.

"We are building our two-year-old program out in a different direction and

are pleased to offer the Tremont and Astoria as part of the new Belmont Stakes

Racing Festival," said Martin Panza, Senior Vice-President of Racing Operations

for the New York Racing Association. "With the increase in purses, these are the

two strongest juvenile races in the country in this time frame."

The second "must-see" event of the Belmont spring/summer meet will be the

return of the popular Stars & Stripes Festival on July 4. Launched in 2014, the

internationally themed day will once again feature a pair of Grade 1 races on

the turf for three-year-olds in the $1.25 million Belmont Derby and the $1

million Belmont Oaks for fillies, both at 1 1/4 miles.

"We're very proud of the inaugural Stars and Stripes Day as several of the

participants went on to prominent seasons, including Adelaide, who later won the

Secretariat and Australia's Cox Plate for trainer Aidan O'Brien, and Toast of

New York, who was runner-up in both the Pacific Classic and Breeders' Cup

Classic," Panza said. "We are confident this year's festival will be even bigger

and better."

Joining the Grade 3, $400,000 Belmont Sprint Championship on the Stars &

Stripes card this year will be the $150,000 Victory Ride for three-year-old

fillies going 6 1/2 furlongs and the Grade 3, $500,000 Dwyer for

three-year-olds, which in addition to gaining a purse boost has been shortened

to a one-turn mile.

"Heading into the second half of the year, there were no mile races for

three-year-olds," Panza said. "The addition of this race can only serve to

strengthen our Stars and Stripes Day card."

The stakes offerings begin on Belmont Park's opening day, April 29, with the

$100,000 Elusive Quality for four-year-olds and up going seven furlongs on the

turf. A trio of graded stakes will be held on Kentucky Derby Day, May 2: the

Grade 3, $150,000 Westchester at a mile, the Grade 3, $150,000 Fort Marcy for

four-year-olds and up at 1 1/8 miles on the turf and the Grade 2, $200,000

Sheepshead Bay for older fillies and mares going 1 3/8 miles on the turf.

The first Grade 1 event of the meet is the $400,000 Man o' War at 1 3/8 miles

on the turf, the highlight of a spectacular May 9 card that includes the Grade

2, $250,000 Ruffian Handicap at a mile for older fillies and mares, the Grade 2,

$200,000 Peter Pan for three-year-olds at 1 1/8 miles, and the Grade 3, $150,000

Beaugay for fillies and mares at 1 1/16 miles on the turf.

Memorial Day, May 25, will serve as the new date for the spring edition of

New York Showcase Day for New York-breds, offering six stakes worth $900,000,

highlighted by the $200,000 Commentator at a mile.

The Grade 1, $300,000 Mother Goose at 1 1/16 miles will be held on June 27,

and the meet will wrap up with a trio of New York-bred stakes: the one-mile,

$100,000 Saginaw for four-year-olds and the six-furlong, $125,000 Rockville

Centre for juveniles on July 18 and the six-furlong, $125,000 Lynbrook for

juvenile fillies on closing day, July 19.

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