stakes schedule

The 2024-2025 stakes schedule at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California, will feature 79 added-money events over a total of 78 race dates, topped by the GI Santa Anita Handicap and the GI Santa Anita Derby. The Big 'Cap, worth $400,000 in 2024, will offer prize money of $300,000 this year, while the purse of the Santa Anita Derby has been cut to $500,000 from $750,000. On the flipside, the purses on offer for overnight races are above what was offered last spring and autumn, with four allowance and maiden...

A total of 22 stakes with purses totaling $2.5 million will take place throughout the 42-day Thoroughbred meet at Sam Houston Race Park, which begins its 31st live racing season Friday, Jan. 3. The annual Houston Racing Festival is set for Saturday, Jan. 25, with five stakes, anchored by the GIII Houston Ladies Classic and the GIII John B. Connally Turf. "We are committed to presenting an exciting racing season and engaging horseplayers, no matter their level of experience," said Bryan Pettigrew, Sam Houston Race Park's Vice President and General...

Turfway Park Racing & Gaming has unveiled its 2024-25 stakes schedule, with $4.9 million in purses across 24 races and includes the debut of the Turfway Park Synthetic Championships, according to a release from the track on Wednesday afternoon. "We're really excited to unveil the stakes calendar for the winter season at Turfway Park, which not only features our marquee Jeff Ruby Steaks Day but also introduces the new Turfway Park Synthetic Championships," said Gary Palmisano Jr., vice president of racing for Churchill Downs Incorporated. "By adding the Turfway Park...

Four stakes for 2-year-olds--including a pair of graded races--highlight the upcoming Winter Thoroughbred meet at Los Alamitos. The six-day season is scheduled to begin Friday, Dec. 6 and continue through Sunday, Dec. 15. Racing will be conducted on a Friday-Sunday basis (Dec. 8-10 and 15-17) both weeks. Post time will be 12:30 p.m. The $200,000-guaranteed GII Starlet Stakes, for 2-year-old fillies, will be renewed for the 11th time at Los Alamitos Saturday, Dec. 7 one week before the $200,000-guaranteed GII Los Alamitos Futurity, which was captured by Wynstock in 2023. Won...

The GII Cigar Mile Handicap, one of four graded events on a bumper program to be held Saturday, Dec. 7, highlights the 26-strong stakes schedule for the Aqueduct fall meeting, officials at the New York Racing Association (NYRA) announced Friday. The $500,000 contest going the one-turn configuration is joined on the same card by the GII Remsen Stakes and GII Demoiselle Stakes for 2-year-old males and fillies, respectively, as well as the GIII Go For Wand Handicap, also over a mile. Stakes action kicks off on opening day of the...

Highlighted by the Jan. 25 $3-million Pegasus World Cup Invitational and $1-million Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational Jan. 25 and the Mar. 29 $1 million Curlin Florida Derby, Gulfstream Park will launch its 2024-2025 Championship Meet Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 28 and run through Mar. 30, 2025. The meet will play host to a total of 66 stakes races--30 graded--totaling $15.025 million. Opening weekend begins with 2-year-old turf stakes Thanksgiving Day and Friday, Nov. 29, and the $600,000 finals of the Florida Sire Stakes Saturday, Nov. 30. Pegasus World Cup Day...

The Belmont at the Big A fall meeting will feature 50 stakes races worth $10.35 million, officials at the New York Racing Association (NYRA) announced Thursday. Thirty-one days of racing are scheduled at Aqueduct Racetrack, which will once again stage the meeting due to the ongoing construction at Belmont Park. The meet begins on Friday, Sept. 13 and runs through Sunday, Nov. 3. Three Grade I contests for on the flat and six Breeders' Cup Challenge races are to be run, including the first of the elite-level events, the $500,000...

Del Mar Thoroughbred Club has scheduled a 31-day/39 stakes program topped by its premier offering--the 34th running of the $1-million GI FanDuel Racing Pacific Classic slated for Saturday, Aug. 31. Del Mar is also projecting a total purse distribution of more than $26.6 million over the course of the eight-week season. The shore oval's 85th summer session staged alongside the blue Pacific opens Saturday, July 20 and races ahead to Sunday, Sept. 8. The Pacific Classic will be the highlight of a rich afternoon that will feature five graded stakes,...

Highlighted by the 155th GI Travers S. Aug. 24 and the GI Whitney S. Aug. 3, the 40-day Saratoga meet features 19 Grade I races as part of 71 stakes worth $20.75 million in total purses, the New York Racing Association said concerning the release of the schedule on Friday. Following the four-day opening week, which starts on Thursday July 11, racing will be conducted five days a week, Wednesdays through Sundays, apart from closing week, when the 2024 summer meet will conclude on Monday, Sept. 2. Saratoga Live, the...

The $200,000 Illinois Derby will return for Hawthorne's spring/summer Thoroughbred meet, which begins Saturday, Mar. 23. The racing season will extend six weeks longer in comparison to the 2023 year as racing concludes Sunday, Oct. 23. The Illinois Derby, scheduled for Sunday, Apr. 21, will serve as an official prep for this year's GI Preakness S. Hawthorne Race Course will pay for the Illinois Derby winner's entry fee into the Preakness if they choose to run. The Illinois Derby, previously a Grade III, was most recently contested in 2017. "We...

Lone Star Park at Grand Prairie will begin the 2024 Thoroughbred Racing Season on Thursday, Apr. 18 and conclude on Sunday, July 14. The season will encompass 41 race days, featuring 21 stakes worth a total of $2.8 million. The richest day of the meet, Lone Star Million Day, will take place on Memorial Day, Monday, May 27 with over $1.2 million in purses. Six stakes have been scheduled, including the GIII $400,000 Steve Sexton Mile for 3-year-olds and up and the 1 1/16-miles $300,000 Texas Derby. The full 2024...

Following the approval of the New York State Gaming Commission (NYSGC), the New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) has added a Thursday, Feb. 29 card to the winter meet at Aqueduct Racetrack, the organization said in a release Wednesday. NYRA, with the support of the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association (NYTHA) and the New York Thoroughbred Breeders, Inc. (NYTB), requested to add the additional card following the cancellation of racing Jan. 20-21 at the Big A due to arctic temperatures. The schedule is currently being conducted Friday-Sunday. Aqueduct will host...