$1M International Trot moves to September 9

Harness racing fans and industry participants will want to mark their calendars with a number of schedule changes coming to MGM Yonkers Raceway throughout the rest of 2023.

The most notable calendar alteration involves the $1,000,000 MGM Yonkers International Trot moving from September 23 to September 9. Along with that change comes a post time switch, as the races on September 9 will commence at 12:00 P.M. (Eastern Time), while the card on the 23rd will revert to the normal 7:00 P.M. time slot.

In addition to the MGM Yonkers International Trot, the September 9 program will include a six-figure Invitational race for older pacers, one for older trotters, and eight $225,000 New York Sire Stakes championship finals. Total purses on the card will be well over $3 million.

As a result of the date switch, there will be no live racing on Friday, September 8.

Starting with the week of May 1, MGM Yonkers Raceway will drop Wednesdays from its weekly schedule and replace it with Saturday racing, thus creating a Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday schedule through September 30. At that point live racing will revert back to a Monday to Friday schedule until December 20. The lone exceptions are the addition of Wednesday, July 26 to the calendar and a Monday/Tuesday only schedule during the week of Thanksgiving.

The first Saturday card (May 6) will be drawn along with Friday (May 5) on Monday, May 1. The entry box closes at 3:00 P.M.

The final change to report is actually the first to occur. On Kentucky Derby Day (May 6), MGM Yonkers Raceway will offer a first race post time of 4:00 P.M.

All of the above changes are pending New York Gaming Commission approval.

From Yonkers Raceway