The stakes schedule for the 2024 Belmont at the Big A spring/summer meet, which will open Thursday, May 2, will include 32 stakes worth more than $6.6 million in total purses, the New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) announced Tuesday.
As announced in December, the ongoing construction of a new and re-imagined Belmont Park will require significant adjustments to the customary NYRA schedule. Most notably, the 2024 Belmont Stakes Racing Festival will be held at Saratoga Race Course from June 6-9. In addition, the spring/summer and fall meets traditionally held at Belmont will take place at Aqueduct Racetrack in 2024.
Differences between the circumference of Belmont Park and Aqueduct Racetrack will require slight distance changes to a number of races to be contested during the Belmont at the Big A spring/summer meet.
On the turf, five races previously run at seven-furlongs [Elusive Quality, Soaring Softly, Paradise Creek, NYSSS Cupecoy's Joy, NYSSS Spectacular Bid] will be contested at six-furlongs. In addition, both the GI Belmont Derby Invitational and GI Fasig-Tipton Belmont Oaks Invitational will be contested at 1 3/16-miles on turf rather than the customary 1 1/4-miles. On the main track, the GII Brooklyn will be run at 11 furlongs rather than the traditional 12 furlongs.
A stakes-laden program on Saturday, July 6 will feature four graded events led by a pair of Grade Is on the turf in the $750,000 Belmont Derby Invitational for sophomores and the $500,000 Fasig-Tipton Belmont Oaks Invitational for sophomore fillies. These prestigious contests will be supported by the GII, $200,000 John A. Nerud for older horses sprinting seven furlongs and the GIII, $200,000 Dwyer for sophomores going one mile.
For the full Belmont at the Big A spring/summer meet stakes schedule, visit https://nyra.com/spring-summer.
Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for the daily PDF or alerts.
