April 29 kicks off Belmont Park’s 56-day spring/summer meet, which is highlighted by the $1 million Belmont Stakes (gr. I), the oldest and longest leg of the Triple Crown.
The Belmont Stakes, the final jewel of the Triple Crown, will be held on June 11. That day’s card also offers five additional graded stakes races.
The stakes season begins on Saturday, April 30 with the $100,000 Westchester (gr. III), one of 37 stakes offered, and the grade I season commences with the the $500,000 Metropolitan Handicap on Memorial Day, May 30.
Other grade I stakes include the Woodford Reserve Manhattan Handicap on the turf, the Foxwoods Just a Game for fillies and mares on the turf, and the TVG Acorn for 3-year-old fillies—all on Belmont Stakes Day—as well as the Odgen Phipps Handicap for fillies and mares (June 18); the Mother Goose for 3-year-old fillies (June 25); the Prioress for 3-year-old filly sprinters (July 4); and the Man o’ War on the turf (July 9). Returning to the stakes calendar are the Futurity (gr. II) for 2-year-olds and the Matron (gr. II) for 2-year-old fillies, which will be contested July 3.
