Summit of Speed, Festival of the Sun highlight Calder’s
2013 stakes schedule
The 14th annual Summit of Speed,
featuring the Grade 1 Princess Rooney Handicap and Grade 2 Smile Sprint
Handicap on July 6, and the 22nd Festival of the Sun,
which includes the rich finals of the Florida Stallion Stakes on October 12, highlight the
2013 stakes program at Calder Race Course.
“We’re excited to offer a lucrative and lengthy
stakes program that will give the top horses stabled at Calder, in all
divisions, many opportunities to run,” Racing Secretary Mike Anifantis said.
“Our stakes program offers nationally-renowned events such as the Summit of
Speed, which continues to turn out champion sprinters, along with events
such as the Festival of the Sun, which have proven to be both popular and
profitable for our Florida horsemen.”
In addition to the Princess Rooney and the
Smile Sprint, the 2013 Summit of Speed will again include the Azalea
and Carry Back, both Grade 3 stakes, with the latter having produced a
Breeders’ Cup Sprint scorer and Eclipse Award-winning champion sprinter in
last year’s runner-up Trinniberg.
Long known as the signature live racing event
at Calder, the Festival of the Sun also has a recent history of producing
Eclipse Award winners with Awesome Feather and Big Drama both completing
their sweeps of the prestigious Florida Stallion Stakes with rousing
Festival of the Sun victories in the My Dear Girl and In Reality
divisions, respectively. This year’s Festival of the Sun will also include the Tropical Park
Derby and Frances A. Genter.
Both the Summit of Speed and the Festival of
the Sun will feature multi-race Preview days, with the Summit of Speed
Preview slated for June 8 and the Festival of the Sun Preview scheduled for
September 14.
For the first time in years, the Calder Derby,
which will kick off the 2013 season on opening day, April 6, will be
scheduled for 1 1/8 miles on dirt, with a purse increase to $250,000
accompanying the surface switch, changes that position the race as a
potential prep for the Kentucky Derby.
The popular Juvenile Showcase, which last
season featured a Foolish Pleasure victory by Kentucky Derby hopeful Itsmyluckyday, will be held for the 11th
time on August 24. The Juvenile Showcase will again feature six
stakes solely for two-year-olds, with $550,000 in purse money to be given
away.
The 12th edition of the Florida
Million, a showcase day of racing for registered Florida-bred horses
featuring eight stakes worth $1 million in purses, will take place on November 9,
while a
Grade 3 triple header featuring the My Charmer, Tropical Turf and Fred Hooper Handicaps is scheduled for
December 7. A Grade 3 double comprised of the La Prevoyante and W. L. McKnight Handicaps will be held on
December 28.
The 129-day live racing season at Calder will
begin with the 76-day Calder meet that will run from April 6 until August 31.
The 53-day Tropical Meet starts September 1 and will continue until December 29.
First race post time for the Calder meet is 12:50 p.m. (ET), with post time for
the Tropical Meet set for 12:30 p.m. The 2014 Calder Meet will begin January 3, with the stakes schedule to be announced later this year.
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