The Meadowlands Racetrack, Tioga Downs and Vernon Downs have announced several date changes for the 2020 stakes schedule.
The recent cancellation of the Sun Stakes at The Downs at Mohegan Sun Pocono removed a few potential conflicts and left two prime Saturdays without any stakes, which led to several of the following adjustments.
First off, Tioga Downs is announcing that the New York Sire Stakes three-year-old colt pace scheduled for Sunday, June 14 has been delayed one week to June 21 due to NY Agricultural Fund concerns over horses getting qualified in time for the race.
Also moving to June 21 at Tioga are the Roll With Joe and the first leg of the Graduate Series for pacers.
The first leg of the Graduate Series for trotters will remain on Sunday, June 14 at Tioga as originally scheduled.
Leg #2 of the Graduate Series trot has moved one day from Friday, June 26 to Saturday, June 27 and the second leg for pacers will now be raced on Saturday, July 4. Both are at the Meadowlands.
The Graduate Series has been reduced from four legs to two due to scheduling constraints, and the finals will remain on Saturday, July 11 as part of the Meadowlands Pace elimination card.
Also being raced on the July 4 card at the Meadowlands will be the Arthur Cutler Memorial trotting stakes.
All of the two-year-old stakes at the Meadowlands remain on the 2020 schedule, but the order has been rearranged to avoid as much conflict as possible. The Kindergarten Series dropped one leg, down to four and the finals.
The entire revised 2020 Meadowlands stakes list is posted on the track website.
There are two important changes to the 2020 Empire Breeders Classic (EBC) for three-year-old trotters. Originally scheduled with elimination races and a final on Memorial Day, the EBC Trots will be raced as a single stakes event on Saturday, July 4 at Vernon Downs.
The conditions state that "if more than 11 declare to start the Host Track may adopt any of the methods of dividing the race then current in the rules and regulations." With the season shortened and dates at a premium, the elimination will be discarded and if more that 11 declare for the colt or filly EBC it will go in divisions with the purse divided.
(Meadowlands, Tioga Downs and Vernon Downs)
I don't know if anyone
I don't know if anyone noticed it with all the postponements and cancellations, but The Meadowlands did something practically unheard of this year and MOVED UP the dates of 8 stakes races! The Governors Cup, Valley Victory, Three Diamonds, Goldsmith Maid, and all 4 TVG finals, originally slated for Nov. 28, will now be contested one week earlier, on Nov. 21.