Latham, NY — The racing schedule and updated conditions for the 2020 New York Sire Stakes racing season were approved Monday (Dec. 30) at a meeting of the Agriculture and New York State Horse Breeding Development Fund Board of Trustees. The NYSS racing season will open on Tuesday (May 5) at Yonkers Raceway with 3-year-old filly trotters and provide eight legs for all eight divisions of 2- and 3-year-olds.

The $1.8 million NYSS Day of Champions, featuring eight finals worth $225,000 each, will be held Saturday (Sept. 12) at Yonkers Raceway. The program will also feature the International Trot and offer a special afternoon post.

“Racing fans had such a great response to the NYSS Day of Champions and International Trot in 2017. We are so excited to partner with Yonkers Raceway again to offer another blockbuster card in 2020,” said M. Kelly Young, executive director, Agriculture & NYS Horse Breeding Development Fund. “The New York Sire Stakes program is key to the success of the state’s harness racing and Standardbred breeding industries and we look forward to working with all tracks in the state to offer another outstanding year of state-bred racing.”

The NYSS consolations are scheduled at Monticello Raceway on Monday (Sept. 14). The Excelsior Series finals are scheduled for Saturday (Sept. 19) at Tioga Downs. The purses for the consolations and Excelsior finals have been adjusted and each division will offer $50,000 purses for the season-concluding events. The full schedule of NYSS and Excelsior racing dates is now available. Dates for the County Fair Racing Series will be announced in the coming weeks.

Total purses paid out for the three tiers of the New York Sire Stakes program equaled $14.79 million in 2019. Purses are budgeted to be similar in 2020 with more than $13 million in added money approved at the meeting.

The newly approved conditions for the Excelsior and County Fair Series in 2020, along with conditions for yearlings nominating in 2020 (foals of 2019), can be found at the New York Sire Stakes website: www.nysirestakes.com.

Also approved at the meeting, $150,000 has been made available for next year’s Grant Awards. A grant application will be issued in early 2020 encouraging certified 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organizations to apply for consideration. Organizations are asked to review the Fund’s Grants Policy to determine their eligibility before applying. Deadline for submission will be March 2.