Aqueduct. (Walter Wlodarczyk)
Featuring 13 stakes worth $2.8 million in total purses
NYRA Press Office
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) today announced the stakes schedule for the 2025 spring meet at Aqueduct Racetrack, which will feature 13 stakes worth $2.8 million in total purses.
The 15-day spring meet will open on Thursday, April 3 and continue through Sunday, April 27 with live racing conducted Thursday-Sunday.
NYRA has increased the purse of both the Haynesfield and Biogio’s Rose by $25,000. As a result, both races will offer a purse of $125,000.
The spring meet stakes action kicks off with the Wood Memorial Day card on Saturday, April 5, featuring five stakes topped by the 100th running of the Grade 2, $750,000 Wood Memorial. The nine-furlong test for 3-year-olds will offer 100-50-25-15-10 Kentucky Derby qualifying points to the top-five finishers.
Wood Memorial Day will also feature the Grade 2, $300,000 Carter at seven-furlongs for older horses, as well the Grade 3, $200,000 Gazelle at nine furlongs for sophomore fillies offering 100-50-25-15-10 Kentucky Oaks qualifying points to the top-five finishers. Completing the day’s stakes action are the Grade 3, $175,000 Distaff, a seven-furlong contest for older fillies and mares; and the Listed $150,000 Excelsior for older horses which will now be contested at 1 1/4-miles – one furlong more than last year.
A lucrative weekend extends to Sunday, April 6, with a pair of one-turn mile state-bred stakes in the Haynesfield for older horses and the Biogio’s Rose for older fillies and mares.
Stakes action continues on Saturday, April 12 with the Listed $150,000 Top Flight for older fillies and mares traveling nine furlongs. Sunday, April 13 will be co-headlined by a pair of $200,000 New York Stallion Stakes Series events at 6 1/2-furlongs on the main track – the Times Square for eligible state-sired sophomores and the Park Avenue for eligible state-sired sophomore fillies.
The Listed $150,000 Bay Shore, a seven-furlong sprint for sophomores, will be run on Saturday, April 19.
Closing weekend of the spring meet will offer the return of turf stakes with the $125,000 Woodhaven for sophomores on Saturday, April 26, and the Listed $150,000 Memories of Silver for 3-year-old fillies on Sunday, April 27.
