stakes schedule

With Del Mar's annual summer meet looming large on the horizon, news out of the track has arrived thick and fast this week. On Thursday, Del Mar announced that it plans to begin racing a week earlier than scheduled on July 10--pending approval from the California Horse Racing Board--and that the predominantly three-day race weeks will end with a four-day race week on Labor Day, Sept. 7. On Friday, the track announced its $5.5-million stakes schedule, which this year includes a GI Kentucky Derby stepping-stone in the shape of the...

Del Mar will conduct its 81st summer racing season between July 10 and Sept. 7 featuring a 38-race stakes schedule offering more than $5.5 million in purses. The meet kicks off on a Friday and will feature the traditional Opening Day headliner, the $100,000 Runhappy Oceanside S. The overall stakes slate consists of 32 stakes that carry purses of no less than $100,000, along with six overnight stakes, each worth $65,000. Twenty-one of the stakes are graded--six at Grade I, 11 at Grade II and four at Grade III. The...

Belmont will reopen June 3 for a 25-day meet with a stakes schedule that includes a number of purse cuts and the cancellation of several stakes traditionally run in the spring at the NYRA tracks. Spectators will not be allowed to attend the races throughout the spring season at Belmont. Following the opening week, racing will be held Thursdays through Sundays with closing day scheduled for July 12. "The resumption of live racing at Belmont Park June 3, with all appropriate health and safety protocols in place, will support the...

Indiana Grand Racing & Casino has released its revised condition book and stakes schedule for the 2020 season. Both are contingent upon the approval of the Indiana Horse Racing Commission on the recently proposed racing dates of a 94-day season beginning Monday, June 15 and finishing Wednesday, Nov. 18. The Thoroughbred stakes calendar is highlighted by the GIII Indiana Derby and GIII Indiana Oaks that will move to July 8 as a part of a six-stakes program. The Indiana Derby purse has been changed to $300,000, and the distance changed...

Confident that racing will resume shortly at Santa Anita, the track's racing department has released a stakes schedule that covers May 16 through the end of the meet on June 21. There are several changes to the stakes program, including new dates for the GI Santa Anita Derby and GII Santa Anita Oaks, as well as reduced purses for many of the track's top races. Santa Anita is hoping to begin racing again on May 15, but is still waiting approval to do so from the Los Angeles County Department...

Three stakes races--including a pair of graded events--highlight the Summer Thoroughbred Festival at Los Alamitos. The two-week meet will begin Friday, June 26 and continue through Sunday, July 5. The richest event on the calendar is the $200,000 GII Great Lady M. S. for fillies & mares at 6 1/2 furlongs July 4. Marley's Freedom (Blame) has won the Great Lady M the past two years. The other graded race is the $100,000 GIII Los Alamitos Derby, which will also be held July 4. Hall of Famer Bob Baffert has...

The stakes schedule for the 51-day Belmont Park spring/summer meet, featuring 58 total stakes races worth $18.65 million starting Friday, Apr. 24 through Sunday, July 12, was announced by the New York Racing Association, Inc. Saturday. The meet will offer 11 total Grade I contests and five races with purses of $1 million or higher, with the first four of those contests coming during the three-day GI Belmont Stakes Racing Festival from Thursday, June 4 through Saturday, June 6. The festival will encompass 17 total stakes, including eight Grade Is...