The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) today announced post times for the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival, which will be held at historic Saratoga Race Course from Thursday, June 6 through Sunday, June 9.
Highlighted by the 156th edition of the Grade 1, $2 million Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets on Saturday, June 8, the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival will include 24 stakes races with purses totaling $10.25 million.
The Festival opens with four stakes on Thursday, June 6: the Grade 2, $250,000 Belmont Gold Cup offering a ‘Golden Ticket’ for an automatic berth into the Group 1, AUD$8.4 million Lexus Melbourne Cup on November 5 at Flemington Racecourse in Victoria, Australia; the Listed $150,000 Jersey Girl; the Listed $150,000 Tremont and the $150,000 Astoria.
Post time for the 10-race program on June 6 is 12:50 p.m. (all times ET). Admission gates will open to the public at 11 a.m.
Friday, June 7 will feature three Grade 1 events among four stakes topped by the $750,000 New York presented by Rivers Casino; the $500,000 DK Horse Acorn and the $500,000 Just a Game. The Grade 2, $200,000 Intercontinental presented by MTV Solutions rounds out the stakes action on the second day of the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival.
Post time for the 12-race program on June 7 is 12:20 p.m. Admission gates will open to the public at 10:30 a.m.
A blockbuster Belmont Stakes Day at Saratoga awaits on Saturday, June 8 with a program to include six Grade 1 events among nine stakes races in total, culminating with the Belmont Stakes and featuring three Breeders’ Cup “Win And You’re In” qualifiers: the Grade 1, $1 million Hill ‘N’ Dale Metropolitan Handicap [Dirt Mile]; the Grade 1, $500,000 Ogden Phipps presented by Ford [Distaff]; and the Grade 1, $500,000 Jaipur presented by Resolute Racing [Turf Sprint]. In addition, the prestigious Grade 1 races on Belmont Stakes Day will include the $1 million Resorts World Casino Manhattan, and the seven-furlong $500,000 Woody Stephens presented by Mohegan Sun.
Belmont Stakes Day at Saratoga will be bolstered by the Grade 2, $350,000 True North presented by F.W. Webb; the Grade 2, $350,000 Suburban; and the Grade 3, $350,000 Poker.
Post time for the 14-race Belmont Stakes Day program is 10:45 a.m. Admission gates will open to the public at 9 a.m. on Saturday, June 8.
The 2024 Belmont Stakes Racing Festival will conclude on Sunday, June 9 when New York-breds take center stage for a special New York Showcase Day featuring six stakes exclusively for New York-breds including a quartet of $125,000 events: the Kingston, the Mount Vernon, the Mike Lee and the Bouwerie. The day’s feature races are a pair of $200,000 stakes in the Commentator for 3-year-olds and up and the Critical Eye for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up.
The Grade 1, $150,000 Beverly R. Steinman, a new 2 3/8-mile steeplechase event created to honor the career of Beverly R. “Peggy” Steinman, will be contested for the first time on Sunday, June 9.
Post time for the 10-race New York Showcase Day program is 12:50 p.m. Admission gates will open to the public at 11 a.m.
The 2024 Belmont Stakes Racing Festival will be conducted at Saratoga for the first time to allow for the uninterrupted construction of a new Belmont Park, the Long Island home of the third leg of the Triple Crown.
For additional information, visit https://www.belmontstakes.com/.