Belmont And Aqueduct 2011 Fall Stakes Schedules

Elmont, N.Y. - The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) has announced the stakes programs for the 2011 Belmont Park fall championship meet and the 2011 Aqueduct fall meet, featuring 30 graded stakes races and nearly $9 million in purses.

The Belmont meet begins on Saturday, September 10 and runs through Sunday, October 30, with 37 days of scheduled live racing. The marquee afternoon of racing falls on Saturday, October 1, with five prestigious Grade 1 races - the Jockey Club Gold Cup, Joe Hirsch Turf Classic, Flower Bowl, Beldame, and Vosburgh.

Other Grade 1 races during the Belmont meet are the Garden City on Saturday, September 17, and the Champagne, Frizette, and Jamaica on Saturday, October 8.

Belmont also hosts New York Showcase Day on Saturday, October 22, which includes seven stakes races totaling $900,000 in purses for New York-bred horses and featuring a day of great activities for the entire family to enjoy.

Belmont Park & Aqueduct Racetrack horse racing betting at OffTrackBetting.com

There are also eight Breeders' Cup Challenge races during the Belmont fall championship meet, comprising the Jockey Club Gold Cup, Joe Hirsch Turf Classic, Flower Bowl, Beldame, Vosburgh, Champagne, and Frizette, as well as the Grade 2 Kelso on October 1. The winners of those races will earn automatic entry into corresponding Breeders' Cup races, as well as have their entry fees paid and a travel allowance to Louisville if they are nominated to the Breeders' Cup program by October 24.

One notable change is that the Grade 2 Nashua and the Grade 3 Tempted, both run during the 2010 Aqueduct fall meet at one mile, have been moved to the Belmont meet and will be run on Sunday, October 2 at six furlongs. The date and distances for those races were changed to provide horsemen prep races for the newly created Breeders' Cup Juvenile Sprint, which will be run at six furlongs.

The 2011 Aqueduct fall meeting starts on Friday, November 4 and runs through New Year's Eve, Saturday December 31, with 37 live racing days scheduled.

The premier day of racing is Saturday, November 26, featuring the Grade 1 Cigar Mile, the Grade 1 Gazelle, the Grade 2 Remsen, and the Grade 2 Demoiselle.

The Grade 2 Go For Wand, which was on hiatus in 2010, returns to the NYRA stakes schedule and will be run on the Aqueduct main track Friday, November 25.

"Year after year, many of the eventual year-end champions participate in the terrific stakes schedule that we feature during the Belmont and Aqueduct fall meets,"said NYRA President and CEO Charles Hayward. "Once again, we are excited to offer an unparalleled slate of fall stakes that includes races in nearly every category."