Besides 40 days of racing at the iconic Saratoga Race Course summer meet, there will be more racing dates at the Spa than ever next year.
Confirming previous reports, in releasing its 2025 schedule Dec. 3 the New York Racing Association announced it will conduct one additional day of racing at Saratoga during the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival at the Spa in June and then will race at Saratoga for the first time from July 3-6 for a July 4th Racing Festival.
"There is nothing in sports that compares with the energy at Saratoga Race Course, and we join the fans in looking forward to another spectacular season of racing in 2025," NYRA president and CEO David O'Rourke said. "While Saratoga is rightly defined by history and tradition, NYRA is thrilled to bring the Belmont Stakes and a special July 4th Racing Festival to Saratoga while a new Belmont Park takes shape on Long Island."
The added dates are part of the Belmont at the Big A spring/summer meet. Those days will not be included in the 40-day summer meet at the Spa, even though the July 4th Racing Festival will be followed by the July 10 opening of the Saratoga summer meet.
Last year, when the Belmont Stakes was contested at Saratoga for the first time due to the reconstruction of Belmont Park, there was racing from Thursday through Sunday. Handle and attendance rose.
Next year's stint at the Spa will run from Wednesday, June 4, through Sunday, June 8. NYRA will release ticket information about the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival at a future date.
Saratoga's summer meet will run from July 10 until Sept. 1, with racing typically on a Wednesday through Sunday basis.
The 200-date 2025 racing season begins Jan. 1 with the winter meet at Aqueduct Racetrack and lasts through March 30. Except for opening week, racing will be conducted Thursday through Sunday until March, when there will be only three days of racing, Friday through Sunday.
After that comes a 15-day Aqueduct spring meet (April 3-27), followed by the 37-day Belmont at the Big A spring/summer meet, which starts May 1 and technically ends July 6 at Saratoga.
Racing will return to Aqueduct following the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival until it shifts north again for the July 4 weekend at the Spa.
Once Saratoga ends, the year will conclude at Aqueduct in the form of the 32-day Belmont at the Big A fall meet (Sept. 10-Nov. 2) and the Aqueduct fall meet (Nov. 6-Dec. 31) with Thursday through Sunday racing a regular feature.
NYRA is hopeful of having Belmont Park operational in 2026.
