Belmont Turf Sprint, Jockey Club Derby are taken off turf

The Grade 3 Belmont Turf Sprint and the Grade 3 Jockey Club Derby Invitational have been taken off the grass.

Aqueduct did conduct the Waya (G3), won by McKulick, and the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic (G1), won by War Like Goddess, on a turf course rated yielding.

After that race, the track announced that the Belmont Turf Sprint and the Jockey Club Derby would be taken off the grass. A starter allowance, carded as the eleventh and final race on the card, had already been pulled off the lawn.

The Belmont Turf Sprint will now be conducted at six furlongs on the dirt. Scratches include no. 1 Big Invasion, no. 8 Fauci and no. 12 Nothing Better; all are listed as trainer scratches, and all were removed from the field before the surface switch was announced.

The Jockey Club Derby will cover 1 1/4 miles on the main track, shorter than its initial 1 3/8-mile distance on turf. No. 1 Measured Time, no. 2 Faraday, no. 3 Webslinger and no. 9 Mondego have been scratched after the surface switch.