Woodford Reserve will be the Official Bourbon of Belmont Park and Saratoga Race Course through 2018, it was announced today by Brown-Forman and The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA).
The three-year agreement includes title sponsorship of the Grade 1, $1 million Woodford Reserve Manhattan on Belmont Stakes Day and the Grade 2 Woodford Reserve Ballston Spa at Saratoga.
Additionally, Woodford Reserve has been designated the Official Bourbon of the Belmont Stakes and the Official Bourbon of the Travers Stakes.
“We are delighted to partner with Woodford Reserve again and are appreciative of its long-standing commitment to excellence in thoroughbred racing,” said Lynn LaRocca, Senior Vice President and Chief Experience Officer for the New York Racing Association. “We are proud to offer Woodford Reserve to our guests at Belmont Park and Saratoga Race Course and feature it on our biggest and most prestigious days of the year.”
The 1 ¼-mile Woodford Reserve Manhattan Handicap, which carries a purse of $1 million, is run immediately preceding the 148th Belmont Stakes and will be nationally televised on NBC.
“Woodford Reserve is proud to partner with the New York Racing Association in some of the thoroughbred industry’s finest races,” said Mark Bacon, Woodford Reserve Global Brand Director. “We’ve had a longstanding place in the horse racing industry, and Woodford Reserve is excited to extend our ties through this affiliation with Belmont Park and Saratoga Race Course.”
Entries for the Woodford Reserve Manhattan Handicap, along with the Belmont Stakes and the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap, will be drawn at a special event at Rockefeller Center in the heart of midtown Manhattan on Wednesday, June 8.
As many as 12,000 “Belmont Jewels” – the Official Cocktail of the Belmont Stakes, made with Woodford Reserve – will be served in souvenir glasses throughout Belmont Park on Belmont Stakes Day, Saturday, June 11.
