Just recently, the New York Racing Association provided its full stakes calendar for the 155th meet at the historic Saratoga Race Course. The meet will be highlighted by Whitney on August 5, 2023, and the 154th Travers on August 26, 2023. In total, the track will contest 71 world-class stakes events which will feature over US$20.8 million in purse money.
This year’s edition of the summer meet at the race track will kick off on Thursday, July 13, 2023, and will again conclude on Labour Day, which is September 4, 2023. With the exception of four days of live racing on the opening week and six days on the closing week, the track will host five days of racing each week. They will run from Wednesdays to Sundays.
Exciting Season Ahead
In its press, NYRA informed that the most noticeable changes for the meet include the schedule for Travers week when the Grade I Ballerina will move back to Travers Day. The Grade I Personal Ensign will be contested on Friday, Aug. 25, instead of on Travers Day. Meanwhile, the Grade II Ballston Spa for fillies and mares on the turf has been moved to Thursday, Aug. 24.
Changes to the Travers will also see the shift of the Saratoga New York Showcase Day card, which features six stakes events for NY-breds, to August 27. The Aug. 26 card will include three other Grade I stake, the Sword Dancer, Forego and Allen Jerkens, along with the listed Smart N Fancy. Schuylerville for 2-year-old fillies will kick off the season.
In addition to that, the opening weekend’s Forbidden Apple on the turf will now be run as the Kelso, which was a mainstay of the Belmont Park fall meet as a Grade II. Once more, the Belmont fall meet will be run at the Aqueduct due to current construction and renovation at Belmont Park. Its meet will kick off in the spring, before the Saratoga Meet.
The full calendar can be found on NYRA’s official website. Also, tickets for the Saratoga meet will be available for purchase starting from March 22, 2023. Meanwhile, general admission season passes and box seats will go on sale the week of April 3, 2023, and single-day reserved seats will be available to purchase in the week of May 8, 2023.
Recent Activities
For this year’s racing season, NYRA signed an NFT-based brand Game of Silks, which will only bolster the experience for horse racing fans. Via the partnership, the NFT platform has become the official blockchain game and metaverse partner of NYRA. Participating players are eligible for different rewards which are tied to their NFT horse’s real-world success on the track or in the breeding shed.
Recently, NYRA also informed that it recorded a strong financial performance during last year’s racing season. The organization reported that across its 2022 meets at its three tracks, Aqueduct Racetrack, Belmont Park, and Saratoga Race Course, in the Empire State, its three tracks generated an all-sources handle of US$2.32 billion.
Source: MacAdam, Mike “NYRA releases stakes schedule for 155th Saratoga Race Course meet” The Daily Gazette, March 7, 2023
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