EAST BOSTON, MA - The fall schedule at Suffolk Downs will include higher purses, two additional four-day race weeks, and the running of the $100,000 Robert M. O’Malley Sprint Stakes, the track announced today.

The O’Malley Stakes, named for the track’s longtime executive who died in 2007, will take place on Saturday, October 22. The race is a six-furlong sprint over the main track for fillies and mares age three and up. Nominations for the race close Saturday, October 8. The undercard will include the John Kirby Stakes, a one mile and 70 yard route for three-year-olds bred in Massachusetts.

Purses for all allowance races, including maiden special weights, have been increased by $2,000 per race, while purses for all claiming races have been increased by $1,500. An additional increase will go into effect for the final two weeks of the racing season, which concludes Saturday, November 5.

Suffolk Downs will continue its current Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday-Saturday live racing schedule through the first full week of October. The track moved to a four-day week in August. Live racing was added on Tuesday, September 27 and Tuesday, October 4 to make up for the forced cancellation of two racing days in August due to the effects of Hurricane Irene. First post time remains 12:45 p.m.