The adjustment on the calendar of two Grade 1 turf events and a rearranging of the New York-bred stakes program are among the changes the New York Racing Association has made to the 2025 Saratoga stakes schedule, which was released on Thursday. The stakes program for the 40-day Saratoga meet that runs July 10-Sept. 1 will include 64 events worth $20,330,000. The previously announced July Fourth Racing Festival, while held at Saratoga (July 3-6), is not considered part of the Saratoga summer meet. The Grade 1, $1 million Sword Dancer, which had been part of the Travers Day card in late August, has been moved up two weeks to the second Saturday in August (Aug. 9), while the Fourstardave, typically run the second week of August, has been moved up one week to Whitney Day (Aug. 2). The Fourstardave received a 50 percent purse increase to $750,000. Andrew Offerman, NYRA’s senior vice president of racing and operations, acknowledged part of the reason for moving these two stakes was to get away from Kentucky Downs, which has been offering seven-figure purses for many of its turf stakes during a meet that begins Labor Day weekend. For example, the Mint Millions, a mile turf race like the Fourstardave, has gone to $2 million, while the Kentucky Turf Cup, a 1 1/2-mile race like the Sword Dancer, was $1.7 million in 2023 and $2 million in 2024. “Kentucky Downs is one of the concerns,” Offerman said. “I think the other thing that we were looking at, just overall, are races we thought weren’t performing to the level that they should be. These two kind of stuck out as the two kind of cornerstones that weren’t performing as well as they should have been. I think the Fourstardave benefits from going to Whitney Day. It helps hopefully build Whitney Day. Hopefully, the additional purse money also attracts a bigger field.” :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. The Fourstardave has averaged six-horse fields the last three years. The Sword Dancer had a five-horse field last year and six in 2023. In past years at Saratoga, there was a Grade 1 stakes run every Saturday of the meet. That won’t be the case this year, as the July 26 program will include the Grade 2 Jim Dandy and Grade 3 Lake George. The Alfred G. Vanderbilt, a sprint race for older males typically run on this spot on the calendar, lost its Grade 1 status for 2025. The Grade 2 Vanderbilt, which got a $50,000 purse increase to $400,000, will be run on the July 19 card, along with the Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks. The Saratoga Derby, part of the six-stakes Whitney card, got a purse increase from $600,000 to $750,000. Other stakes on that card are the Grade 1, $1 million Whitney; the Grade 1, $500,000 Test; the Grade 1, $750,000 Fourstardave; the Grade 2, $300,000 Troy; and the Grade 2, $200,000 Saratoga Special. The Aug. 23 Travers card has five Grade 1 stakes, topped, of course, by the $1.25 million Travers. Other Grade 1s run that day are the $500,000 H. Allen Jerkens, the $500,000 Ballerina, the $500,000 Forego, and the $500,000 Personal Ensign. That card also includes the Grade 2 Lake Placid, a turf race for 3-year-old fillies, which has been shortened to a mile and had its purse doubled to $400,000. There will not be a New York Showcase Day program, a card that included six stakes typically run the day after the Travers. Instead, those races will be spread out across Travers week. The Albany and Fleet Indian, for 3-year-olds and 3-year-old fillies, will be worth $200,000. Four other stakes – the West Point, Yaddo, Seeking the Ante, and Funny Cide – will be reduced to $150,000 from $200,000. “It works better at Saratoga, where we’re running a stakes or multiple stakes a day, to spread that day out as opposed to try to do an event right before or right after Travers Day, where maybe it doesn’t get as much energy or excitement as it should,” Offerman said. In another change regarding the New York-bred stakes program, the six-furlong Union Avenue and the Johnstone Mile, previously run the same week, will be combined into one seven-furlong race and run as the Johnstone. Also, the John Morrissey, at six furlongs, and the Evan Shipman, at a mile, will be combined into one seven-furlong race and run as the Morrissey. The Johnstone and Shipman will be worth $150,000. NYRA has created a new turf sprint stakes, the $135,000 Disco Partner, to be run Aug. 31. That fills the void left by moving the Harvey Pack to July 4. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.