The Stars & Stripes Racing Festival, an annual event at Belmont Park since 2014, features a star-studded schedule of races this year.
Event highlights are the Belmont Derby Invitational and the Belmont Oaks Invitational Stakes, which each carry a prize fund of at least $1 million.
Joining these Grade I races is the Grade II Suburban Handicap. While grade III additions include the Dwyer Stakes and the John A. Nerud Stakes.
The Belmont Derby has a history that stretches back to 1929 while the Belmont Oaks began in 1979. Bringing the two races together alongside a series of other Graded races makes for a perfect day of racing.
The Stars & Stripes Racing Festival is a meeting of such quality, that only the Breeders’ Cup can match it. The 2019 running of the festival will take place this Saturday, July 6th.
While the Stars & Stripes Racing Festival began in 2014, the races within the fest have a much longer history. This fact especially applies to the Belmont Derby and the Belmont Oaks.
For much of the history of the race, it was run over six furlongs, while recent years have seen the distance steadily increase to today’s distance of 1.25. The Belmont Derby has been run on turf since 1994.
Today, the race is only open to 3-year-old fillies, but in the past, it was open to horses of all ages.
The organizers aim to attract the highest quality field as possible. The large prize(s) certainly catch the eye of the owners and trainers throughout the country, ensuring standout fields in every running of the festival so far.
The Winner of the Belmont Oaks will qualify for the Breeders’ Cup filly and mare turf race at the end of the season.
The Stars & Stripes Racing Festival is a fantastic recent addition to the horse wagering calendar.
Five big Graded races were all brought together to become a top-class day of racing, highlighted by the newly named Belmont Derby and Belmont Oaks.
Stop back to the Daily Racing Blog on Friday to see our choices for the last weekend of racing at Belmont Park this season.
