Schenectady, NY — The New York Sire Stakes administration is monitoring the reopening plans of the state’s racetracks and is tentatively planning to begin Sire Stakes and Excelsior Series events the week of June 21 at Tioga and Vernon Downs.

We hope to finalize first race dates in the coming days.

The program is currently working with pari-mutual tracks to finalize a new schedule which will be provided to participants as soon as possible.

“We know what a hardship this uncertainty is and that horsemen are eager for dates. We are hammering out several details now and will provide a revised schedule as quickly as we can. We thank all of our participants for their continued patience,” said Kelly Young, executive director of the Agriculture & New York State Horse Breeding Development Fund. “In the meantime, we are excited to see qualifiers this week at Tioga Downs, Vernon Downs and Historic Track in Goshen, and plans developing for qualifying at other locations. Thank you to the tracks and officials who have made this possible and worked hard to bring these to fruition. The challenge of qualifying horses is being addressed and we feel comfortable that we are getting over this hurdle to the start of the stakes season.”

As previously released, 3-year-old racing will begin first, followed by 2-year-olds in July. No racing dates have yet been finalized. The revised calendar will feature an equal number of legs for all ages and divisions.

Please call or email Kelly Young with any questions. She can be reached at kelly.young@gaming.ny.gov or at 518.388.0224.