Aqueduct begins its farewell weekend on Saturday with the $150,000 Ashley T. Cole Stakes anchoring an 11-race card before Sunday’s closing-day John Hettinger Stakes brings down the curtain on live racing at the Big A.
NYRA has listed first post at 1.10pm Eastern for Saturday, with the Ashley T. Cole set as Race 8 at 4.45pm. The six-furlong turf sprint is restricted to New York-breds aged three and older and forms the centrepiece of the first half of a two-day send-off.
The official field gives the race a strong local feel. Waralo, trained by Chris Englehart and ridden by Jose Lezcano, is drawn in stall one after his Listed Elusive Quality win over the same course and distance. Linda Rice runs Sacrosanct, partnered by Manny Franco, for his turf debut from post two, while Michelle Nevin’s Dancing Buck returns to a track where he has already won five times.
Big A Moves Into Its Final Weekend
NYRA says live racing at Aqueduct will conclude on Sunday, June 28, though the racecourse will remain open for simulcasting until Monday, September 7. Its Ashley T. Cole preview also confirms the closing-weekend celebration across Saturday and Sunday.
Sunday’s John Hettinger Stakes is scheduled as the final stakes race on the card, giving New York racing one last feature before the full transition away from Aqueduct gathers pace.
