Vernon, NY – The New York Sire Stakes Series will hold its first races of the 2023 season on Monday (May 29) at Vernon Downs. The Opening Day slate will include races with 3-year-old trotting colts and 3-year-old trotting fillies. The event includes both New York Sire Stakes and Excelsior Series.

The event will have total purses exceeding $400,000 for the 12 races.

“We are excited to get the new racing season started at beautiful Vernon Downs, celebrating 70 years of harness racing,” said Ralph Scunziano, executive director of the Agriculture & NYS Horse Breeding Development Fund. “Good luck to all those that are racing. We cannot wait to see how the season plays out.”

Harness racing action will begin at 12:15 p.m. on Monday.

The full 2023 NYSS and Excelsior Series schedules may be found here. This season’s finals, the Day of Champions, will be hosted at Yonkers Raceway on Sept. 9. Finals for the Excelsior Series will be held at Batavia Downs on Sept. 13.

Members of the public with questions or concerns may contact the New York Sire Stakes email address at info@nysirestakes.com. You can keep up to date with all of New York’s harness racing news by visiting www.nysirestakes.com.

About the Agriculture & NYS Horse Breeding Development Fund: The Agriculture & NYS Horse Breeding Development Fund is a public benefit corporation established in 1965 by the Laverne Law (Laws of New York, Chapter 567 of the Laws of 1965). The mission of the fund is to promote agriculture through the breeding of Standardbred horses and the conduct of equine research within the state. To carry out its legislative mission, the Fund administers the New York Sire Stakes races, Excelsior/State Fair Series races, and County Fair Races.