Five off-the-turf stakes races at Aqueduct Racetrack from this past weekend will not have their graded status restored for this year’s contests, the American Graded Stakes Committee announced Oct. 12.
The five stakes—the Jockey Club Derby Invitational Stakes, Belmont Turf Sprint Stakes, Futurity, Matron and Noble Damsel Stakes—were carded as grade 3s but were dropped to listed status with their off-the-turf runnings in keeping with committee policy, pending a review. Following this week’s review, the committee chose not to restore the grades of any of the races.
Many races taken off the turf are depleted of quality and depth. The Oct. 8 Noble Damsel, twice postponed this fall due to wet weather, was the most impacted by the change in surface. It went to post with just two horses, and Gerrymander defeated Sunset Louise by 25 lengths.
The American Graded Stakes Committee aims to provide owners and breeders of Thoroughbreds a guide to the relative quality of Thoroughbred bloodstock by identifying those domestic races whose recent renewals have consistently attracted the highest quality competition.
In other action as a result of the surface switch, the Futurity lost its “Win and You’re In” berth into the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint (G1T). A different committee, the Breeders’ Cup Field Selection Panel, evaluated the race after the running and determined the Breeders’ Cup Challenge designation would not be reinstated.
