The 2019 meeting at Saratoga Race Course will feature 76 added-money events across the 40 days of racing worth nearly $21 million. The recently announced meet will open eight days ahead of its usual position on Thursday, July 11 and will feature five days of racing each week, with Mondays and Tuesdays dark.
The stakes schedule features no fewer than 16 Grade I races on the flat, six of which form the backbone of the Travers Racing Festival Saturday, Aug. 24. The marquee race of the summer, the $1.25-million GI Runhappy Travers S., anchors that program, which also includes the $850,000 GI Sword Dancer Invitational, the $700,000 GI Personal Ensign S., the $600,000 GI Forego S. and the $500,000 GI Ketel One Ballerina S. Excepting the Travers, each of the other events offer the winners fees-paid berths into the Breeders' Cup as part of the “Win and You're In” series.
Handicap horses also get their chance in the 'Spa' spotlight, with the $1-million GI Whitney S. Saturday, Aug. 3 and the $750,000 GI Woodward S. on closing weekend Aug. 31. The Aug. 3 program also features the GI Longines Test S. for the sprinting 3-year-old fillies.
As announced earlier this week, Saratoga will host the middle leg of the Turf Trinity-the $750,000 Saratoga Oaks Aug. 2 and the $1-million Saratoga Derby Aug. 4.
Two-year-old racing is always front and center at Saratoga, and opening week will include–as usual–the GIII Schuylerville S. for the fillies on July 11 and the GIII Sanford S. for the boys July 13. The GII Adirondack S. Aug. 4 and the GII Saratoga Special S. Aug. 10 serve as the final local preps for the GI Spinaway S. Sept. 1 and the GI Hopeful S. Sept. 2, respectively.
Additional upgraded races for the Saratoga summer meet include the $100,000 GIII Quick Call S. marked for July 11; and the $150,000 GIII Forbidden Apple S., set for July 12, which moves to Saratoga from Belmont.
New York Breeders' Showcase Day is scheduled for Travers Eve, with six races restricted to horses bred in the Empire State that will offer a total of $1.15 million, including the $250,000 Albany S. for state-bred 3-year-olds. Saratoga will also honor the memory of one of the state's beloved trainers with the inaugural running of the $100,000 Rick Violette S., a six-furlong event for state-bred juveniles Wednesday, July 17. The Violette was previously run downstate as the Rockville Centre S.
Click here for the complete 2019 stakes schedule.
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