On Saturday February 3rd, Aquaduct Racetrack will host the $250,000 Withers Stakes. The Withers Stakes is a Road to the Kentucky Derby race, where the winner will get 20 points, 2nd place gets 10, 3rd gets 6, 4th gets 4 and 5th gets 2 point towards winning entry into the 2024 Kentucky Derby.
The Withers was historically run at a distance of one mile but was lengthened to 1+1⁄16 miles in 2012. In 1956, it was also contested at a mile and a sixteenth. The “Withers Mile”, as it was known to racetrackers, was once one of America’s great races, on par with events like England’s St James’s Palace Stakes and France’s Prix Jacques Le Marois. Winners included outstanding sires like Dr. Fager, Jaipur, Hagley, Bold Reasoning, Hill Prince, Polynesian, Menow, and Blue Larkspur.
2024 Withers Stakes at Aquaduct Racetrack – Saturday, February 3rd, 2024. Race and time to be determined as it gets closer to raceday!
