The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) has announced the stakes schedules for the 2010 Belmont Park Spring/Summer Meet and the Saratoga Race Course Meet.

The Saratoga Meet, which kicks off for the 142nd time on Friday, July 23, is punctuated by 17 Grade 1 races beginning with the $250,000 Coaching Club American Oaks on opening weekend, and includes at least one Grade 1 race every Saturday during its expanded 40-day run.

Formerly run at 1¼ miles at the close of the Belmont Park Spring/Summer Meet, the historic Coaching Club American Oaks for 3-year-old fillies will be staged at the Spa on Saturday, July 24, at its new distance of 1 1/8th miles. Opening weekend at Saratoga also features a terrific slate of races including the Grade 3, $100,000 Schuylerville for 2-year-old fillies on Friday, July 23, the Grade 2, $150,000 Sanford for 2-year-olds on Sunday, July 25, and the Evan Shipman, a $75,000 stakes for New York-bred 3-year-olds and up on Monday, July 26.

Saturday, July 31, features the Grade 1, $500,000 Diana for fillies and mares on the turf and the Grade 2, $500,000 Jim Dandy for 3-year-olds. Sunday, August 1, features the Grade 1, $250,000 Ruffian Handicap for fillies and mares on the dirt, replacing the Go For Wand which has been given a one-year hiatus.

The following Saturday, August 7, boasts a pair of Grade 1 races in the $750,000 Whitney Handicap for older horses and the $250,000 Test for 3-year-old fillies. On Sunday, August 8 is the $250,000 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap, which was upgraded to a Grade 1 this year by the North American Graded Stakes Committee.

The Grade 1, $500,000 Sword Dancer Invitational on the turf will be held Saturday, August 14 and the Grade 1, $500,000 Alabama for 3-year-old fillies will be run on Saturday, August 21.

The Travers Stakes, run on Saturday August 28, is the pinnacle of an unparalleled day of racing at Saratoga. The 1¼-mile “Mid-Summer Derby” graces a card that includes a trio of prestigious sprints in the Grade 1, $250,000 King’s Bishop for 3-year-olds, the Grade 1, $250,000 Ballerina for fillies and mares, and the Grade 3, $100,000 Victory Ride for 3-year-old fillies. The Grade 2, $200,000 Ballston Spa for fillies and mares going 1 1/16th on the turf rounds out this spectacular day of racing.

Saratoga concludes on Labor Day weekend with the Grade 1, $750,000 Woodward and Grade 1, $250,000 Forego, both for 3-year-olds and up, on Saturday, September 4; the Grade 1, $250,000 Spinaway for 2-year-old fillies and the Grade 3, $100,000 Saranac for 3-year-olds on the turf on Sunday, September 5, and the Grade 1, $250,000 Three Chimneys Hopeful for juveniles and the Grade 3, $100,000 Glens Falls for fillies and mares on the turf on Monday, September 6.

Total stakes purses for the 2010 Saratoga Meet are $10.9 million, down 2.6 percent from the 2009 Saratoga Meet, which had $11.2 million in total stakes purses.

Turning to the Belmont Spring/Summer Meet, the 1½ mile Belmont Stakes, the “Test of the Champion” and the ultimate event in racing’s Triple Crown, will be held on Saturday, June 5, as the centerpiece of an all-star stakes card that includes the Grade 1, $400,000 Woodford Reserve Manhattan Handicap for older horses on the turf, the Grade 1, $400,000 Just A Game for fillies and mares on the turf, the Grade 1, $300,000 Acorn for 3-year-old fillies, and a pair of sprints in the Grade 2, $250,000 True North Handicap for older horses at six furlongs and the Grade 2, $250,000 Woody Stephens for 3-year-olds going seven furlongs.

Belmont Park’s Grade 1 season begins on Memorial Day, May 31, with the $500,000, one mile Metropolitan Handicap. Belmont Spring/Summer Grade 1 races also include the $250,000 Ogden Phipps Handicap for fillies and mares on Saturday, June 12, the $250,000 Mother Goose for 3-year-old fillies at its new distance of 1 1/16th miles on Saturday, June 26, and the $600,000 Man o’ War at 1 3/8th miles on the turf on Saturday, July 10.

There are a number of changes to the Belmont Spring/Summer Meet and the Saratoga Meet, including the following:

• The First Flight (G2), Peter Pan (G2), Tom Fool (G2), Nassau County (G3), Poker (G3), all run during the 2009 Belmont Spring/Summer Meet, are on hiatus this year. The Dwyer (G2) has been moved to Saturday, May 8 to replace the Peter Pan and the Bed o’ Roses (G3), run at Aqueduct in 2009, has been moved to Monday, July 5 to replace the First Flight.
• The Go For Wand (downgraded to G2 from the G1 status it held last year), run during the 2009 Saratoga Meet, is on hiatus this year. The Ruffian (G1), run during the 2009 Belmont Park Fall Championship Meet, has been moved to Sunday, August 1 to replace the Go For Wand.
• The following races during the 2010 Belmont Spring/Summer Meet have had purse reductions from their 2009 level: Metropolitan Handicap, Suburban Handicap, and New York down $100,000, Ogden Phipps Handicap, Mother Goose, Prioress, and Vagrancy Handicap down $50,000.
• The following races during the 2010 Saratoga Meet have had purse reductions from their 2009 level: Alabama and Personal Ensign down $100,000, King’s Bishop, Ballerina, Forego, Coaching Club American Oaks, Test, Ruffian Handicap, Spinaway, Three Chimneys Hopeful, Albany, Cab Calloway, and Statue of Liberty down $50,000, A.P. Smithwick Memorial down $25,000.
• The following races had their distance changed for 2010: Mother Goose went to 1 1/16th miles (previously 1 1/8th miles), Suburban Handicap went to 1 1/8th miles (previously 1 1/4th miles) and the Coaching Club American, which will be run at Saratoga, went to 1 1/8th miles (previously 1 1/4th miles).

The stakes schedules for the 2010 Belmont Park Spring/Summer Meet and the Saratoga Meet are as follows:

2010 Belmont Park Spring/Summer Schedule

2010 Saratoga Schedule