Rain Forces Belmont Stakes to Make Last-Minute Changes to Sunday Horse Event

The ongoing rain in Saratoga has really affected the 2025 Belmont Stakes Racing Festival. Indeed, for some it’s a nightmare, but for some, like the Kentucky Derby winner Sovereignty, a muddy racetrack is a direct blessing from the horse racing gods. He’s set to have a rematch with Journalism, the winner of the Preakness Stakes, after their last race at the Kentucky Derby.

This should definitely give the colt a boost. Even with the tough weather, the 157th Belmont Stakes went ahead as scheduled on Saturday evening. The rainy conditions definitely made things a bit trickier for both the horses and the jockeys. But there’s one twist.

On X, DRF’s New York correspondent David Grening shared an update on today’s Belmont Stakes Racing Festival schedule, stating, “The Jaipur and Manhattan will be run Sunday.” It looks like the heavy rain has caused a delay for two big turf races—the Grade 1 Jaipur Stakes and the Grade 1 Resorts World Casino Manhattan Stakes.

So, the races that were supposed to happen on Saturday, June 7, have now been moved to Sunday, June 8, because the turf at Saratoga Race Course is pretty soaked. The Jaipur Stakes, which is a six-furlong sprint and a “Win and You’re In” qualifier for the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint, is now set to take place as Race 12 this Sunday.

The Jaipur and Manhattan will be run Sunday

— David Grening (@DRFGrening) June 7, 2025

The Manhattan Stakes was originally planned for 1 3/16 miles on the outer turf, but now it’s been changed to 1 1/8 miles on the inner turf. It’ll be the 13th and last race of the day. Along with those changes, a few other turf races on Saturday’s card got shifted to the main dirt track, which was marked as sloppy and sealed.

This is a developing report…

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