NYRA announces 2025 Belmont at the Big A spring/summer stakes schedule

The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) today announced the stakes schedule for the 2025 Belmont at the Big A spring/summer meet, which will begin on Thursday, May 1 and continue through Sunday, July 6.

The ongoing construction of a new and re-imagined Belmont Park will again require adjustments to the customary NYRA schedule. Most notably, the 2025 Belmont Stakes Racing Festival will be held across five days at Saratoga Race Course from Wednesday, June 4 through Sunday, June 8.

Saratoga will also play host to a special July 4th Racing Festival, which is traditionally held at Belmont Park, from Thursday, July 3 through Sunday, July 6. The July 4th Racing Festival at Saratoga will serve as the conclusion of the 2025 Belmont at the Big A spring/summer meet.

Statistics for the 37-day Belmont at the Big A spring/summer meet will include the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival and July 4th Racing Festival at Saratoga Race Course.

The Belmont at the Big A spring/summer meet’s stakes action kicks off on Friday, May 2 with the Grade 3, $175,000 Sheepshead Bay for older fillies and mares traveling 1 3/8 miles on the turf. A stacked weekend continues on Saturday, May 3 with the Grade 2, $200,000 Fort Marcy for older horses going nine furlongs on the turf and the Listed $150,000 Elusive Quality at six furlongs on the turf for older horses.

Four more stakes follow on Sunday, May 4 with a trio of $175,000 Grade 3s in the one-mile Westchester for older horses, the 6 1/2-furlong Vagrancy for older fillies and mares and the 1 1/16-mile Beaugay for older fillies and mares on turf. The card also features the Listed $150,000 License Fee for older fillies and mares sprinting six furlongs on the turf.

Racing fans will enjoy a loaded card with five stakes on Saturday, May 10, led by the Grade 2, $400,000 Man o’ War for older turf marathoners traveling 1 3/8 miles. Also on tap are the traditional New York prep for the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets in the Grade 3, $200,000 Peter Pan for sophomores going nine furlongs, the Grade 2, $200,000 Ruffian for older fillies and mares going one mile, the Grade 3, $175,000 John A. Nerud [previously run at seven furlongs] for older horses sprinting six furlongs, and the inaugural running of the $150,000 Take the A Train for sophomore fillies sprinting six furlongs on the turf.  

The stakes program continues on Saturday, May 24 when the spotlight shines on sophomore turf sprinters in the six-furlong Listed $150,000 Paradise Creek as the final stake before action heads north to Saratoga Race Course for the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival.

Stakes racing returns to the Big A on Saturday, June 14 with the $150,000 Cupecoy’s Joy division of the New York Stallion Stakes Series for eligible New York-sired sophomore fillies traveling six furlongs on turf.

The following Saturday, June 21, will see eligible New York-sired sophomores going six furlongs on turf in the $150,000 NYSSS Spectacular Bid.

The restricted one-mile $125,000 Wilton for sophomore fillies has been relocated from Saratoga to the Big A this year and will be featured on the Sunday, June 22 card, followed by a pair of six-furlong New York-bred turf sprints [previously offered at nine furlongs] the next weekend in the Ashley T. Cole for 3-year-olds and up on Saturday, June 28 and the John Hettinger for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up on Sunday, June 29.

Racing on the NYRA circuit will then move to Saratoga for the special July 4th Racing Festival to close the Belmont at the Big A spring/summer meet.

The Belmont at the Big A spring meet stakes schedule is available at https://www.nyra.com/aqueduct/racing/stakes-schedule/.

For the 2025 calendar of live race dates, visit NYRA.com/2025.