The New York Racing Association announced Oct. 19 significant purse increases to overnight races during the winter meet at the new Belmont Park.
The Belmont Park winter meet is to run from Thursday, Dec. 10, and continue into March with a definitive end date to be announced prior to the 2027 Wood Memorial Stakes (G2) and in conjunction with NYRA's 2027 race dates. Throughout the winter meet, racing will be conducted exclusively on the newly installed Tapeta surface.
In addition to new racing opportunities, overnight purses at the winter meet have been increased by 23% with more than $26 million in overnight purse money on offer. The average overnight purse will see a per-race increase of nearly 10%. Specific purse levels for the Belmont Park winter meet are published.
"NYRA is making a significant investment in improving its winter racing program," said NYRA s senior vice president of racing and operations Andrew Offerman. "We believe the Tapeta surface will draw interest from a wide variety of stables seeking winter racing opportunities throughout the region and that these purse increases in conjunction with the formation of the Big Apple Bonus program will provide an opportunity for a new era of winter racing to succeed in New York."
The New York-bred NW1X allowance category will enjoy a $10,000 purse increase to $87,000, while the New York-bred maiden special weight category will see the same boost to $85,000 in 2027. Open MSW races saw an increase of $5,000 to $85,000, while open NW1X events were improved by $4,000 to $87,000. Open allowance events will be offered for $93,000, up $3,000 from one year ago.
On Sept. 18, NYRA launched the Belmont Big Apple Bonus, a new initiative created to reward owners and trainers for participating in the fall meet at Belmont. The Big Apple Bonus provides up to $8,500 in awards per horse shipping or relocating to Belmont from other racing jurisdictions. Owners and trainers currently based at NYRA are fully eligible for these bonuses.
Stall applications for the Belmont Park winter meet, which are due Nov. 13, are now available online.
Belmont Park winter meet stakes schedule
