The New York Stakes is a Grade I American thoroughbred horse race for fillies and mares aged four-years-old and older run over a distance of one and one-quarter miles on the turf scheduled annually in early June at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. The current purse is $600,000.

History

Prior to 1962 the race was open to horses of either sex. For 1972 only, it was restricted to three-year-old fillies.

Inaugurated in 1940 as the New York Handicap at Aqueduct Racetrack, it was moved to Belmont Park in 1961 but returned to Aqueduct in 1963 where it remained until 1975 when it was shifted permanently to Belmont Park. Since its inception, it has been contested at various distances on both dirt and turf:

• 2+1⁄4 miles : 1940–1950 on dirt
• 1+1⁄8 miles : 1951–1954 on dirt
• 1+1⁄8 miles : 1959–1960 on turf
• 1+3⁄8 miles : 1955–1956, 1958, 1961, on turf
• 1+3⁄16 miles : 1963–1964, 1968–1971, on turf
• 1+1⁄16 miles : 1965–1967, 1977–1979, on turf
• 7 furlongs : 1972, on dirt
• 1+1⁄4 miles : 1980 to present, on turf

There was no race run in 1957 and 1973–1975.

The race was run in two divisions in 1960, 1965, 1966, 1969, 1970, 1971, and 1978.

In 2009, due to heavy rains, the race was taken off the turf and shortened from 1 and 1/4 miles to 1 and 1/8 miles.

In 2015, the date for the race was moved to the Friday before the Belmont Stakes as part of the Belmont Racing Festival. ^[1] For 2016, the purse was increased to $500,000. ^[2]

In 2022 the event was upgraded to Grade I.

Records

Speed record: (At current distance of 1+1⁄4 miles on turf)

• 1:58.40 – Capades (1990)

Most wins:

• 2 – Blue Thor (1963, 1965)
• 2 – Batteur (1964, 1965)

Most wins by an owner:

• 3 – Joan & John Phillips and/or Darby Dan Farm (1992, 1999, 2004)
• 3 - Peter M. Brant (1980, 2019, 2022)

Most wins by a jockey:

• 4 – Eddie Arcaro (1947, 1951, 1952, 1953)
• 4 – Ángel Cordero Jr. (1976, 1981, 1990, 1991)
• 4 – Jerry Bailey (1985, 1994, 2000, 2005)

Most wins by a trainer:

• 5 – Chad C. Brown (2016, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023)

Winners

See also

• New York Handicap Triple

References

• The 2008 New York Stakes at the NTRA
• Video at YouTube of the 2008 New York Stakes