The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) has announced the stakes schedules for the 2011 Belmont Park spring/summer meet and the 2011 Saratoga Race Course meet.

As always, the Belmont spring/summer meet is highlighted by the Grade 1, $1 million Belmont Stakes. The 1 ½-mile “Test of the Champion,” which serves as the culminating event in racing’s Triple Crown and has a new television home on the NBC Sports Group, will be held on Saturday, June 11, as the pinnacle of an all-star stakes card that includes the Grade 1, $400,000 Woodford Reserve Manhattan Handicap for older horses on the turf, the Grade 1, $400,000 Foxwoods Just a Game for fillies and mares on the turf, the Grade 1, $300,000 TVG Acorn for 3-year-old fillies, and a pair of sprints in the Grade 2, $250,000 True North Handicap for older horses at six furlongs and the Grade 2, $250,000 Woody Stephens for 3-year-olds going seven furlongs.

Belmont’s Grade 1 season commences on Memorial Day, May 30, with the $500,000 Metropolitan Handicap, one of the premier dirt mile races in the world. Belmont spring/summer Grade 1 races also include the $250,000 Ogden Phipps Handicap for fillies and mares on Saturday, June 18, the $250,000 Mother Goose for 3-year-old fillies on Saturday, June 25, and the $600,000 Man o’War on the turf on Saturday, July 9.

The main change to the Belmont spring/summer stakes schedule is the addition of a pair of Grade 2 juvenile races, the Futurity and Matron, which will return from a one-year hiatus and be run on Sunday, July 3. Formerly held during the Belmont fall championship meet, both races will now be contested at six furlongs and carry purses of $150,000, with the Matron restricted to 2-year-old fillies.

The other two additions to the Belmont spring/summer stakes schedule are the Grade 2, $200,000 Peter Pan for 3-year-old colts which will be run on Saturday, May 14 and the Grade 3, $100,000 Poker Handicap on the turf to be run Friday, June 10. Both races were on hiatus in 2010.

The Saratoga Meet, which kicks off for the 143rd time on Friday, July 22, is punctuated by 17 Grade 1 races beginning with the $250,000 TVG Coaching Club American Oaks for 3-year-old fillies on opening weekend, and includes at least one Grade 1 race every Saturday during its 40-day schedule.

In addition to the historic Coaching Club American Oaks on Saturday, July 23, opening weekend at Saratoga also features a terrific slate of races including the Grade 3, $100,000 Schuylerville for 2-year-old fillies on Friday, July 22, the Grade 2, $150,000 Sanford for 2-year-olds on Sunday, July 24, and the Evan Shipman, a $75,000 stakes for New York-bred 3-year-olds and up on Monday, July 25.

Saturday, July 30, features the Grade 1, $500,000 Diana for fillies and mares on the turf and the Grade 2, $500,000 Jim Dandy for 3-year-olds. Sunday, July 31, features the Grade 1, $250,000 Ruffian Handicap for fillies and mares on the dirt, and the Grade 2, $150,000 Fourstardave Handicap on the turf.

The following Saturday, August 6, boasts a pair of Grade 1 races in the $750,000 Whitney Handicap for older horses and the $250,000 Test for 3-year-old fillies. On Sunday, August 7, are the Grade 1, $250,000 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap for male sprinters, and the Grade 2, $150,000 Honorable Miss Handicap for female sprinters.

The Grade 1, $500,000 Sword Dancer on the turf will be held Saturday, August 13, and the Grade 1, $500,000 TVG Alabama for 3-year-old fillies will be run on Saturday, August 20.

The Grade 1, $1 million Travers Stakes, run on Saturday August 27, is the highlight of an unparalleled day of racing at Saratoga. The 1¼-mile “Mid-Summer Derby” heads a card that includes a trio of prestigious dirt sprints in the Grade 1, $250,000 Foxwoods King’s Bishop for 3-year-olds, the Grade 1, $250,000 Ballerina for fillies and mares, and the Grade 3, $100,000 Victory Ride for 3-year-old fillies. The Grade 2, $200,000 Ballston Spa for fillies and mares on the turf rounds out this sensational day of racing. Travers weekend is bookended with the Grade 2, $200,000 Bernard Baruch for turfers on Friday, August 26, and the Grade 1, $300,000 Personal Ensign for dirt distaffers on Sunday, August 28.

The Saratoga meet concludes on Labor Day weekend with the Grade 1, $750,000 Woodward and Grade 1, $250,000 Forego, both for 3-year-olds and up, on Saturday, September 3; the Grade 1, $250,000 Spinaway for 2-year-old fillies and the Grade 3, $100,000 Saranac for 3-year-olds on the turf on Sunday, September 4; and the Grade 1, $250,000 Hopeful for juveniles and the Grade 3, $100,000 Glens Falls for fillies and mares on the turf on Monday, September 5.

Total stakes purses for the 2011 Saratoga Meet are just over $10.9 million, with the only change from last year being a $50,000 increase to the With Anticipation in line with its upgrade to Grade 2 status. There were no substantive changes to the Saratoga schedule this year.

The stakes schedules for the 2011 Belmont Park spring/summer meet and the Saratoga meet are as follows:

2011 Belmont Park Spring/Summer Meeting:

2011 Saratoga Race Course Meeting: