The National Steeplechase Association’s schedule of summer racing will include three more races at Saratoga Race Course, with three Thursday programs each featuring two steeplechases. In all, nine steeplechase races are carded for the Upstate New York meet, up from six originally scheduled in 2010.
Heading the summer schedule will be two graded races at Saratoga, the $75,000 A. P. Smithwick Memorial (Gr. 2) on Thursday, Aug. 4, and the $100,000 New York Turf Writers Cup Handicap (Gr. 1) three weeks later, on Aug. 25. Two steeplechase races will be featured on Aug. 4, Aug. 18, and Sept. 1.
Steeplechase racing returns to Belmont Park on Sunday, July 3, for the William Entenmann Novice Hurdle. The race is named for the late steeplechase owner and bakery executive who died Jan. 1.
“We are most grateful to the New York Racing Association for this major expansion of steeplechase racing at its historic Saratoga meet and for placing the Entenmann on its Belmont schedule,” said William Gallo Jr., the National Steeplechase Association’s director of racing. “These new opportunities will offer steeplechase horsemen further incentives to shoot for the summer races.”
Also on the summer schedule is the $50,000 David L. “Zeke” Ferguson Memorial (Gr. 3) at Colonial Downs in Virginia on Sunday, June 26. Colonial Downs, located near Richmond, will offer a total of six steeplechase races, three each on Sunday, June 12, and June 26, with purses totaling $125,000.
The summer schedule kicks off in Pennsylvania at Parx Racing, the former Philadelphia Park, on Sunday, June 5. That program will feature a $25,000 Sport of Kings maiden hurdle and a $30,000 optional allowance over National Fences.
The first Colonial program features a $20,000 open claimer, a $15,000 maiden hurdle, and a $10,000 maiden claimer.
The action then returns to Pennsylvania at Penn National Race Course on Friday, June 17, for a $25,000 Sport of Kings maiden hurdle and a $30,000 optional allowance. In addition to the Ferguson, the second Colonial program on June 26 will present a $15,000 conditioned claiming hurdle and a $10,000 maiden claiming hurdle.
The annual preview of the Saratoga racing season, the Saratoga Open House on Sunday, July 17, will feature four races, including three over fences, with purses totaling $65,000. That program features two $25,000 Sport of Kings maiden hurdles, one for four-year-olds and the other for steeplechase horses five and older, and a $15,000 maiden hurdle for fillies and mares. The Open House also will present a training flat race.
Fillies and mares will play a prominent role in the expanded schedule at Saratoga. The Mrs. Ogden Phipps Filly & Mare Hurdle Stakes is slated for Thursday, Aug. 11, and the Mrs. Walter M. Jeffords Filly & Mare Hurdle Stakes will be featured on Thursday, Sept. 1. Purses have been set for neither race.
Here is the complete summer schedule:
Sunday, June 5: Parx Racing, Bensalem, Pa., $25,000 Sport of Kings Maiden Hurdle, 2 1/16 miles; $30,000 optional allowance, 2 1/16 miles
Sunday, June 12: Colonial Downs, New Kent, Va., $20,000 open claiming hurdle, 2 1/4 miles; $15,000 maiden hurdle, 2 1/4 miles; $10,000 maiden claiming hurdle, 2 1/4 miles.
Friday, June 17: Penn National Race Course, Grantville, Pa., $25,000 Sport of Kings maiden hurdle, 2 1/16 miles; $30,000 optional allowance, 2 1/16 miles.
Sunday, June 26: Colonial Downs, New Kent, Va., $50,000 David L. “Zeke” Ferguson Memorial Hurdle, 2 1/4 miles; $15,000 conditioned claiming hurdle, 2 1/4 miles; $10,000 maiden claiming hurdle, 2 1/4 miles.
Sunday, July 3: Belmont Park, Elmont, N.Y., William Entenmann Novice Hurdle Stakes, 2 1/4 miles.
Sunday, July 17: Saratoga Open House, Saratoga Springs, N.Y., $25,000 Sport of Kings maiden hurdle (four-year-olds), 2 1/16 miles; $25,000 Sport of Kings maiden hurdle, five-year-olds and older), 2 1/16 miles; $15,000 maiden filly and mare hurdle, 2 1/16 miles; training flat race, 1 1/2 miles.
Thursday, July 28: Saratoga Race Course, Saratoga Springs, N.Y., Jonathan Kiser Novice Hurdle Stakes, 2 1/16 miles.
Thursday, Aug. 4: Saratoga Race Course, Saratoga Springs, N.Y., $75,000 A. P. Smithwick Memorial Hurdle Stakes (Gr. 2), 2 1/16 miles; optional allowance, 2 1/16 miles.
Thursday, Aug. 11: Saratoga Race Course, Saratoga Springs, N.Y., Mrs. Ogden Phipps Filly and Mare Hurdle Stakes, 2 1/16 miles.
Thursday, Aug. 18: Saratoga Race Course, Saratoga Springs, N.Y., Michael G. Walsh Novice Hurdle Stakes, 2 3/8 miles; optional allowance, 2 3/8 miles.
Thursday, Aug. 25: Saratoga Race Course, Saratoga Springs, N.Y., $100,000 New York Turf Writers Cup Handicap (Gr.1), 2 3/8 miles.
Thursday, Sept. 1: Mrs. Walter M. Jeffords Filly and Mare Hurdle Stakes, 2 1/16 miles; optional allowance, 2 1/16 miles.