NYRA Publishes 2023 Racing Dates Schedule

After the success of another summer meet and the fall one soon coming to an end, the New York Racing Association announced its race dates for 2023. According to the organization, the next year’s schedule is set to feature 202 live race dates which will be contested at its three properties in New York State – the Aqueduct Racetrack, Belmont Park, and Saratoga Race Course.

Currently, out of the three properties, only the Aqueduct Racetrack conducts live racing, and its fall meet is slated to conclude on Saturday, December 31, 2022. Meanwhile, the other tracks are not equipped to run live racing in the winter, and they only conduct racing in the summer. However, NYRA is planning to upgrade them in the future.

Starting Early in 2023

It will not be long after the end of 2022, when live racing resumes at the Aqueduct Racetrack as its 44-day Big A winter meet is scheduled to begin on January 1, 2023. It will run through March 26, 2023, and it will feature racing from Thursday to Sunday until February 12, 2023, then racing from Friday, February 17 will run from Friday to Sunday until the end of the meet.

The Aqueduct will also have a 19-day spring meet, which starts on Thursday, March 30, 2023, and runs to Sunday, April 30, 2023. Live racing then will run under a Thursday-Sunday schedule. After that Belmont Park will host its 40-day spring/summer meet, which will be once more highlighted by the Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets.

The 2023’s running of the Belmont Stakes will be the 155th running of the meet, and it will kick off on Saturday, June 10, 2023. The spring/summer meet will span from May 4 through Sunday, July 9, 2023. Meanwhile, the 40-day summer meet at the iconic Saratoga Race Course will commence on Thursday, July 13 and continue through Labor Day, September 4.

Next year’s summer meet at Saratoga Race Course promises tons of excitement with the 95th running of the Whitney on August 5 and the 154th running of the Travers on August 26. Belmont Park’s fall meet in 2023 will be again held at Aqueduct. Lastly, the 2023 racing season will come to a close with the 31-day Aqueduct fall meet which starts on November 2 and run through December 31, 2022

Just recently, We Are NY Horse Racing voiced its support for NYRA’s request to the state officials to green light a plan to renovate Belmont Park. NYRA’s plan is to borrow US$455 million and repay them over the next 30 years. Also, debt service would be paid via revenue from VLT gambling venues which are dedicated to capital projects

Record-Setting Meet

It should be mentioned that the 2022 Saratoga summer meet delivered on its expectations. A while back the organization reported that the 2022 season has accumulated a record-breaking all-sources wagering handle. Meanwhile paid attendance has surpassed 1 million visitors for the 7th consecutive year. Overall, the handle for the 2022 season reached an amazing US$878,211,963.

Source: “NYRA Announces 2023 Race Dates” Past the Wire, November 23, 2022