NYRA announces stakes schedule for the 2025 Saratoga summer meet

The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) today announced the stakes schedule for the 2025 summer meet at Saratoga Race Course, which will open Thursday, July 10 and continue through Monday, September 1. 
 
Highlighted by the 156th renewal of the Grade 1, $1.25 million DraftKings Travers on August 23 and the Grade 1, $1 million Whitney on August 2, the 40-day summer meet will offer 18 Grade 1 races as part of 64 stakes worth more than $20 million in total purses. 
 
Following the four-day opening week, racing will be conducted five days a week, Wednesdays through Sundays, apart from closing week, when the 2025 summer meet will conclude on Labor Day.
 
In 2025, the Grade 1 FanDuel Fourstardave has been added to a blockbuster Whitney Day card that will now include four Grade 1 events and six total stakes on Saturday, August 2. Previously run the week following the Whitney, NYRA has also increased the purse of the Fourstardave by $250,000 to $750,000 for the one-mile turf tilt for older horses.
 
Saratoga Live, the critically acclaimed and award-winning television show produced by NYRA in partnership with FOX Sports, will return for its 10th season in 2025 to provide daily coverage and in-depth analysis of the summer meet on the FOX Sports family of networks.
 
The Opening Day card on Thursday, July 10 is highlighted by the Listed $135,000 De La Rose, a restricted one-mile turf test for older fillies and mares. The stakes action continues Friday, July 11 with the Grade 3, $175,000 Coronation Cup, a 5 1/2-furlong turf sprint for sophomore fillies ahead of the meet’s first Grade 1 contest on Saturday, July 12, the $500,000 Diana for older fillies and mares going nine furlongs on turf, on a card bolstered by the Grade 2, $200,000 Bowling Green for older horses at 11 furlongs on turf. 
 
The 5 1/2-furlong Grade 3, $175,000 Quick Call presented by Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation, for sophomores on turf, closes out Opening Weekend on Sunday, July 13.
 
Week Two stakes begin on Wednesday, July 16 with the $150,000 Suzie O’Cain, a 1 1/16-mile turf test for New York-bred sophomore fillies, which is followed on Thursday, July 17 with state-bred sophomores going the same distance on turf in the $150,000 Rick Violette. Friday, July 18 holds the nine-furlong Grade 2, $200,000 Shuvee for older fillies and mares, ahead of a loaded Saturday, July 19 card that features the Grade 1, $500,000 Coaching Club American Oaks, a nine-furlong test for sophomore fillies; the Grade 2, $400,000 Alfred G. Vanderbilt, a six-furlong sprint for older horses; and the turf 5 1/2-furlong Grade 3, $175,000 Caress for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up. 
 
The Grade 2, $200,000 Honorable Miss wraps up the week on Sunday, July 20, as older fillies and mares sprint six furlongs on the main track. 
 
The Grade 1, $150,000 A.P. Smithwick Memorial, a 2 3/8-mile steeplechase test, opens week three on Wednesday, July 23, followed by the restricted Listed $135,000 Curlin, a nine-furlong event for sophomores, on Thursday, July 24, and the Grade 2, $200,000 Amsterdam presented by Albany Med Health System, a 6 1/2-furlong sprint for sophomores, on Friday, July 25.
 
Saturday, July 26 offers a pair of graded stakes, including the nine-furlong Grade 2, $500,000 Jim Dandy presented by Mohegan Sun for sophomores and the 1 1/16-mile turf Grade 3, $175,000 Lake George for sophomore fillies. The Grade 2, $250,000 Glens Falls, a 12-furlong turf test for older fillies and mares, will close out the week on Sunday, July 27. 
 
Whitney Week begins with the seven-furlong state-bred $150,000 Johnstone [previously run as the Johnstone Mile] for females 3-years-old and up on Wednesday, July 30, followed by the state-bred $150,000 John Morrissey which was also adjusted from one-mile to seven furlongs on Thursday, July 31 for ages 3-and-up. The Grade 2, $400,000 National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame, a one-mile turf test for sophomores, comes next on Friday, August 1. 
 
Saturday, August 2 will host four Grade 1s led by the $1 million Whitney, a storied nine-furlong test for older horses. Completing the top-level Whitney Day races will be the $750,000 FanDuel Fourstardave; the $750,000 Saratoga Derby Invitational [up from $600,000] at 1 3/16 miles on turf for sophomores; and the seven-furlong $500,000 Test presented by Ticketmaster for sophomore fillies on the dirt. 
 
The card will also offer a pair of Grade 2s with the $300,000 Troy for 3-year-olds and up at 5 1/2 furlongs on turf and the 6 1/2-furlong $200,000 Saratoga Special for juveniles. The Grade 3, $175,000 Adirondack, a 6 1/2-furlong sprint for juvenile fillies, finishes the week on Sunday, August 3. 
 
Stakes action resumes on Wednesday, August 6 with the 1 3/4-mile Listed $150,000 Birdstone for older dirt marathoners ahead of the Listed $150,000 Galway, a 5 1/2-furlong turf sprint for sophomore fillies, on Thursday, August 7, and the 1 1/16-mile turf Grade 2, $300,000 Ballston Spa for older fillies and mares on Friday, August 8.
 
Grade 1 action returns on Saturday, August 9 with the 12-furlong turf $750,000 Sword Dancer for older turf marathoners which has moved forward two weeks as part of a card that also features the Grade 2, $500,000 [up from $400,000] Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Oaks Invitational, a 1 3/16-mile grass route for sophomore fillies. The week wraps up with the 5 1/2-furlong Grade 3, $175,000 Mahony for sophomore turf sprinters on Sunday, August 10. 
 
The following week starts with the $150,000 NYSSS Statue of Liberty for eligible-sired sophomore fillies going one-mile on turf on Wednesday, August 13, before the $150,000 NYSSS Cab Calloway over the same surface and distance for eligible-sired sophomores on Thursday, August 14. 
 
Friday, August 15 offers the 5 1/2-furlong Listed $150,000 Smart N Fancy for female turf sprinters, which leads into Saturday, August 16 with the Grade 1, $600,000 Alabama presented by Keeneland Sales at 1 1/4 miles for sophomore fillies and the 5 1/2-furlong $150,000 Skidmore for juvenile turf sprinters.
 
Sunday, August 17 ends the week with juvenile fillies sprinting on the lawn in the 5 1/2-furlong Listed $150,000 Bolton Landing. 
 
Travers Week begins on Wednesday, August 20 with the Grade 1, $150,000 Jonathan Sheppard Memorial, a 2 3/8-mile test for older steeplechasers. 
 
Thursday, August 21 brings a pair of $200,000 New York-bred nine-furlong events, offering the Albany presented by The Albany Distilling Company for sophomores and the Fleet Indian for sophomore fillies. Friday, August 22 continues the state-bred action with two $150,000 tilts in the six-furlong Seeking the Ante for juvenile fillies and the 1 1/16-mile turf Yaddo for females ages 3-and-up. 
 
Travers Day, on Saturday, August 23, features five Grade 1 events headlined by the $1.25 million DraftKings Travers. The card adds four top-level $500,000 events, with the nine-furlong Personal Ensign for older fillies and mares, plus a trio of seven-furlong sprints – the Forego for older horses, the H. Allen Jerkens Memorial for sophomores and the Resorts World Casino Ballerina for females 3-years-old and up. The program is supported by the Grade 2 Lake Placid, which has been shortened a sixteenth to a flat mile on turf for sophomore fillies and saw its purse double to $400,000.
 
A pair of $150,000 state-bred tilts close out the week on Sunday, August 24, including the 1 1/16-mile turf West Point Handicap for 3-year-olds and up, and the six-furlong Funny Cide presented by Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital for juveniles. 
 
Wednesday, August 27 starts Closing Week as juvenile fillies take on the 1 1/16-mile turf Listed $150,000 P. G. Johnson presented by Snap-on. Next comes the Grade 3, $175,000 With Anticipation, at the same distance and surface for juveniles on Thursday, August 28. The following card features two Listed $150,000 events on turf, including the one-mile Perfect Sting for older fillies and mares, and the 1 1/16-mile Bernard Baruch for older horses, on Friday, August 29. 
 
The final Saturday of the meet, August 30, offers the Grade 1, $300,000 Spinaway, a seven-furlong sprint for juvenile fillies, along with the 11-furlong turf Grade 2, $500,000 Flower Bowl for older fillies and mares, and the six-furlong Grade 3, $175,000 Prioress for sophomore fillies. 
 
Sunday, August 31 features the Grade 1, $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup, a 1 1/4-mile test for 3-year-olds and up. The card is supported by the inaugural running of the restricted 5 1/2-furlong turf $135,000 Disco Partner for 3-year-olds and up, named for the multiple Grade 1-placed New York-bred, who won the 2016 Troy at the Spa and the 2017-18 Jaipur at Belmont Park for trainer Christophe Clement. 
 
Closing Day Monday, September 1, is led by the seven-furlong Grade 1, $300,000 Hopeful for juveniles and the restricted Listed $135,000 Saranac for sophomores at 1 1/16-miles on turf. 
 
Prior to the traditional 40-day summer meet, NYRA will hold nine days of live racing at Saratoga in 2025 inclusive of the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival [June 4-8] and the July 4th Racing Festival [July 3-6] which comprise part of the 37-day Belmont at the Big A spring/summer meet. 
 
For the complete Saratoga stakes schedule, visit https://www.nyra.com/saratoga/racing/stakes-schedule/.