Belmont to host two ‘Super Saturdays’ of Breeders’ Cup preps

Belmont to host two ‘Super Saturdays’ of Breeders’ Cup
preps

The Joe Hirsch Turf Classic will anchor the September 26 card, with the Jockey Club Gold Cup the centerpiece on October 3 (Courtesy of NYRA) The 38-day fall championship meet at Belmont Park will feature not one but two “Super” Saturdays, with 11 graded stakes worth $4.2 million on September 26 and October 3. In all, 40 stakes worth $10.6 million will be offered during the meet, which runs from Friday, September 11, through Sunday, November 1. A pair of “Win and You’re In” races for the Breeders’ Cup World Thoroughbred Championships to be held at Keeneland Race Course on October 30-31 will anchor the card on September 26: the $600,000 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic (G1) in the Turf division and the $400,000 Vosburgh (G1) in the Sprint division. Also on the card are the $400,000 Beldame (G1) for fillies and mares, the Gallant Bloom H. (G2) for filly and mare sprinters and the $200,000 Pilgrim (G3) for juveniles on the turf. The lead-up to the Breeders’ Cup will continue on the following Saturday, October 3, with the centerpiece of the fall meet, the $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1). The 1 1/4-mile Gold Cup, which offers automatic entry and a fees-paid trip to the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1), is one of four “Win and You’re In” offerings on the card.

Rounding out the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series races are the $500,000 Flower
Bowl Invitational (G1) for turf distaffers, the $500,000 Champagne (G1) for
two-year-olds and the $400,000 Frizette (G1) for two-year-old fillies. The
$400,000 Kelso H. (G2) at a mile and the $500,000 Hill Prince (G3) for
three-year-olds on the turf complete the graded stakes on the card.

“With the Breeders’ Cup scheduled at the end of October, it afforded us the
opportunity to present two blockbuster days of racing instead of one,” said
Martin Panza, Senior Vice President of Racing Operations for the New York Racing
Association. “We anticipate both to be ‘must-see’ days at Belmont Park this
fall.”

The spotlight will shine on the Empire State on Saturday, October 24, when
the top New York-breds gather at Belmont Park to complete in eight stakes races
worth $1.75 million, highlighted by the $300,000 Empire Classic at 1 1/8 miles.

Fans can watch and wager on all the Breeders’ Cup action at Belmont Park and
the simulcast center at Aqueduct Racetrack on October 30 and 31, with live
racing action at Belmont to include the $200,000 Turnback the Alarm (G3) for
fillies and mares on Friday and the $200,000 Bold Ruler (G3) at seven furlongs
on Saturday.

The meet will conclude with the $100,000 Pumpkin Pie for filly and mare
sprinters on Sunday, November 1.

Thoroughbred action moves to Aqueduct beginning Wednesday, November 4, for
the Big A’s fall meet, the centerpiece of which is Cigar Mile Day on Saturday,
November 28.

Joining the $500,000 Cigar Mile H. (G1) will be the $300,000 Comely (G3) for
three-year-old fillies and a pair of prestigious Grade 2 events for juveniles,
the $300,000 Remsen and the $300,000 Demoiselle for fillies, both at 1 1/8
miles.

Immediately preceding Cigar Mile Day will be the $250,000 Fall Highweight H.
(G3) on Thanksgiving Day, November 26, and the $300,000 Go for Wand H. (G3) for
fillies on mares on Friday, November 27.

Kicking off the meet will be the first two of 27 stakes worth $4.8 million:
the $200,000 Nashua (G2) for two-year-olds and the $200,000 Tempted (G3) for
two-year-old fillies, both at a mile.

The $200,000 Long Island (G3) for turf fillies and mares going 1 1/2 miles is
slated for the first Saturday of the meet, November 7, with the $150,000
Discovery (G3) for three-year-olds on Veterans Day, Wednesday, November 11, and
the $250,000 Red Smith (G3) at 1 3/8 miles on the turf to be run on Saturday,
November 14.

Following a winter recess from Monday, December 21 through Friday, December
25, racing will resume on Saturday, December 26 with the $100,000 Damon Runyon
for two-year-old New York-breds and the $100,000 Gravesend for sprinters.

The final stakes of the year will be the $100,000 Alex M. Robb for state-breds
on Thursday, December 31.

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