NYRA announces stakes schedule for the 2025 Belmont Stakes Racing Festival

Pat McKenna/ NYRA —-

NYRA announces stakes schedule for the 2025 Belmont Stakes Racing Festival

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) today announced the stakes schedule for the 2025 Belmont Stakes Racing Festival, which will be held at Saratoga Race Course from Wednesday, June 4 through Sunday, June 8.

Highlighted by the 157th edition of the Grade 1, $2 million Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets on Saturday, June 7, the five-day 2025 Belmont Stakes Racing Festival will include 27 stakes races with purses totaling $11,275,000, the richest purses and highest number of stakes offered since the launch of the multi-day Belmont Stakes Racing Festival in 2014.

The Grade 1, $2 million Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets will once again be contested at 1 1/4 miles in 2025 rather than the traditional 1 1/2 miles due to the configuration of Saratoga’s main track.

For the third consecutive year, FOX will present live broadcast coverage of the Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets. FOX Sports is the television home of the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival, providing viewers across the county with wall-to-wall coverage and expansive on-site analysis of the five-day Festival from Saratoga.

The Belmont Stakes Racing Festival kicks off on Wednesday, June 4, with the nation’s top steeplechasers in the Grade 1, $150,000 Beverly R. Steinman, a 2 3/8-mile hurdles test for older horses, before the card moves into New York Showcase Day.

New York Showcase Day features six $200,000 events exclusively for New York-breds, including the seven-furlong Mike Lee for sophomores; Bouwerie at the same distance for sophomore fillies; the nine-furlong Commentator for 3-year-olds and up and the Critical Eye at the same distance for females 3-years-old and up. On the turf, there will be a pair of 1 1/16-mile events, the Kingston for older horses and the Mount Vernon for older fillies and mares.

Thursday, June 5 presents four stakes, including two graded with the 5 1/2-furlong turf Grade 2, $200,000 Intercontinental for older filles and mares, and the Grade 3, $300,000 Poker for older horses going one-mile on the lawn. Juveniles will also be on full display in the Listed $150,000 Tremont at 5 1/2 furlongs and the $150,000 Astoria for fillies at the same distance.

Friday, June 6 is led by four Grade 1s for females, including the $750,000 New York presented by Rivers Casino, a 1 3/16-mile turf test for ages 4-and-up; the nine-furlong $500,000 Ogden Phipps presented by Ford for older fillies and mares; the $500,000 DK Horse Acorn at the same distance for the division’s sophomores; and the one-mile turf $500,000 Just a Game for ages 4-and-up.

A pair of Grade 2s will complete the card, with the seven-furlong $300,000 Bed o’ Roses for older female dirt sprinters and the $250,000 Belmont Gold Cup for older turf marathoners going two miles.

A blockbuster Belmont Stakes Day at Saratoga awaits on Saturday, June 7 with a program to include five Grade 1 events among eight stakes in total, culminating with the Belmont Stakes and featuring the Grade 1, $1 million Metropolitan Handicap going one mile out of the Wilson Chute for 3-year-olds and up, and the 5 1/2-furlong turf Grade 1, $500,000 Jaipur also for 3-year-olds and up. The prestigious and historic Grade 1s on Belmont Stakes Day also includes the 1 3/16-mile turf $1 million Resorts World Casino Manhattan for older horses and the seven-furlong $500,000 Woody Stephens for sophomores.

Belmont Stakes Day will be bolstered by the Grade 2, $300,000 Wonder Again for sophomore fillies traveling 1 1/16 miles on turf, as well as a pair of Grade 3s, including the 6 1/2-furlong $400,000 True North for older dirt sprinters and the $300,000 Pennine Ridge for sophomores going 1 1/16 miles on grass.

The 2025 Belmont Stakes Racing Festival at Saratoga will conclude on Sunday, June 8 with two stakes for sophomore fillies, led by the Grade 3, $175,000 Soaring Softly at 5 1/2 furlongs on grass, along with the six-furlong $150,000 Jersey Girl on the main track.

General admission tickets and hospitality offerings for the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival are on sale now at BelmontStakes.com/tickets.

For the complete Belmont Stakes Racing Festival stakes schedule, visit BelmontStakes.com/schedule.