Saratoga Race Course will offer two Friday twilight cards during its 36-day meeting, which begins on July 25.

The New York Racing Association last year moved the Woodward Stakes (G1) from Belmont Park to Saratoga to enhance a closing weekend program that also featured twilight racing on September 1, the final Friday of the meet. Moving post time back to 3 p.m. EDT helped Saratoga draw 17,993 fans, a 29% increase compared to the previous year.

Twilight racing will be held during the upcoming meet on July 27 and August 31. Post time will be 2:45 p.m. EDT.

“Our fans really supported the idea of a Friday twilight card at Saratoga,” said Bill Nader, NYRA’s senior vice president and chief operating officer. “It gave them a chance to enjoy the town of Saratoga in the morning and revel in its favorite sport in the afternoon. Plus, it serves as a terrific start to a big weekend of racing.”

Four graded stakes that reward winners with automatic qualifications in the Breeders’ Cup World Championships on October 26-27 at Monmouth Park will be contested a day after the first twilight card of the season is run.

They include the $750,000 Whitney Handicap (G1), a 1 1/8-mile race for three-year-olds and older that features an automatic berth in the Breeders’ Cup Classic Powered by Dodge (G1) for the winner, and the $250,000 Go for Wand Handicap, a 1/8-mile race for fillies and mares that features an automatic qualification in the Emirates Airline Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1).

The July 28 card also features the $500,000 Diana Handicap, a 1 1/8-mile turf race for fillies and mares trying to earn an automatic starting spot in the Emirates Airline Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf (G1), and the $200,000 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap (G2), a six-furlong race for three-year-olds and older that rewards the winner with an automatic berth in the TVG Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1).

Two Grade 1 races—the Woodward and the Forego Handicap (G2)—will be contested on September 1.