When the new Belmont Park opens on Sept. 18, NYRA will kick off an expanded fall meet that will run through Dec. 6 and include 72 stakes races worth $17.7 million in total purses, the racing association announced Thursday.
Among the highlights will be the GI Jockey Club Gold Cup, which has been moved back to the downstate track after being run in Saratoga from 2021 through 2025. With a purse of $1 million, it will be the feature race on the first day of racing at the new facility. The Jockey Club Gold Cup provides a “Win and You're In” berth to the Breeders' Cup Classic. To help unveil the new Belmont Park to a national audience, FOX will present live coverage of the Jockey Club Gold Cup on its broadcast network.
“The new Belmont Park will provide the stage to showcase the best racing in North America,” Andrew Offerman, NYRA SVP, Racing & Operations, said in a statement. “With that in mind, we have arrived at a stakes schedule that reflects the importance of the fall racing season, emphasizes major weekends throughout the meet, and establishes a strong foundation in advance of the 2027 Breeders' Cup World Championships. We look forward to Sept. 18, and the next chapter in NYRA's history.”
There was one notable to change to the stakes schedule as the Woodward was not included. Once one of the most prestigious races in the country, it has struggled to find a place on a calendar that is loaded with stakes races in the late summer and early fall on the dirt for males and had been dropped to Grade II status. Twenty winners of the race were eventually inducted into the Hall of Fame.
“As a result of the shift of the Jockey Club Gold Cup to Belmont Park, the Woodward has been temporarily furloughed for 2026 and will return to the NYRA Stakes Schedule in 2027 on a date to be determined,” said NYRA Vice President Communications Patrick McKenna.
One important and historic NYRA race has returned. The GII Brooklyn Stakes, which was not held in 2025. is back on the schedule, slated to be run on Dec. 5. When last run in 2024, it was held on July 5.
NYRA has organized the first half of the fall meet around two consecutive “blockbuster” Saturdays to include 10 graded stakes with six Breeders' Cup “Win and You're In” chances on the line. On Sept. 26, the $500,000 GI Joe Hirsch Classic will headline a program that will also feature the $500,000 GII Flower Bowl, a “Win and You're In” to the GI Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf, the $250,000 GII Vosburgh, a “Win and You're In to the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint, and the $250,000 GII Gallant Bloom.
Four Breeders' Cup “Win and You're In” races will be run on Oct. 3 as part of a lucrative program designed to showcase emerging stars from the juvenile division. Headlined by the $500,000 GI Champagne Stakes, a prep for the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile, the Oct. 3 card will also feature the $500,000 GI Frizette Stakes, the $250,000 GII Pilgrim, the $250,000 GII Miss Grillo Stakes, the $200,000 GII Futurity and the GIII Matron.
The GII Man o'War Stakes, previously contested during the Belmont spring meet, has been shifted to Nov. 28.
The final Saturday of the extended meet will be held on Dec. 5 and will include the Brooklyn, the $250,000 GII Cigar Mile Stakes, the $250,000 GII Remsen Stakes, the $250,000 GII Demoiselle Stakes and $250,000 GIII Elite Power Stakes.
To view the entire Belmont Fall Meet stakes schedule, visit https://www.nyra.com/belmont/racing/stakes-schedule/.
Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for the daily PDF or alerts.
