Summer horse racing set for Saratoga, but no fans will be allowed
Tax captures the Jim Dandy Stakes at Saratoga Race Course with Irad Ortiz, Jr. aboard. Credit: Coglianese Photography/Joe Labozzetta
Saratoga Race Course will host racing from July 16 to Sept. 7, but no fans will be allowed at the bucolic track, NYRA announced on Friday in releasing its summer meet schedule.
The COVID-19 pandemic forced NYRA to cancel the remainder of its winter meet at Aqueduct on March 15 and delay the opening of its spring/summer meet at Belmont Park until June 3. No fans are being admitted to the giant Belmont grandstand.
“We’re thrilled to be racing at Saratoga this summer and we thank Gov. Andrew Cuomo for his support and the support of horsemen who have worked with us to navigate the many challenges,” NYRA president and chief executive officer Dave O’Rourke said in a statement. “While this will be anything but a traditional Saratoga season, we hope to provide a semblance of normalcy for both the local community as well as racing fans across the country.”
Saratoga’s 40-day meet will feature 39 graded stakes, with the $1 million Travers, a Grade 1 race run at 1 1/4 miles, pushed up to Aug. 8 as the coronavirus has thrown the horse racing schedule into flux. The 1 1/8-mile Whitney, also a Grade 1 stakes race, will be on Aug. 1 and carries an automatic berth to the Breeders’ Cup Classic on Nov. 7 at Keeneland.
Saratoga, hosting the $500,000 Grade 1 Woodward Handicap (1 1/4 miles) on Sept. 5, also will go head-to-head with the Kentucky Derby, which was pushed back from May 2.
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