Churchill schedules eight stakes for historic September
meet
The first September racing meet in the 139-year history of
Churchill Downs racetrack — 12 days of racing dubbed the “Homecoming
Meet” — will feature eight stakes races with total purses of nearly $1 million.
The inaugural schedule is headed by a pair of important events for two-year-olds
— the Grade 2, $150,000 Pocahontas and Grade 3, $150,000 Iroquois — and a new stakes race for older horses designed as a prep for the $5 million
Breeders’ Cup Classic and the Grade 1, $400,000 Clark Handicap, which will be run beneath the Twin Spires in
late November.
The first Homecoming Meet at Churchill Downs will open on
September 6 and continue through September 29. Racing will be conducted
on a Friday-through-Sunday schedule during each of its four weeks, with “Downs
After Dark” night racing celebrations scheduled for two Saturdays — September 7 and
28.
The $175,000 Homecoming Classic, a 1 1/8-mile race
for three-year-olds and up on the main track, is the only new event on the
Homecoming Meet’s inaugural schedule of eight stakes races with total purses of
$975,000. It is one of two stakes contests set for the meet’s second “Downs
After Dark” program on September 28. The seven remaining events on the September
meet’s stakes schedule have previously been run during either its spring or fall
meets.
“Our Churchill Downs team is looking forward to the new
Homecoming Meet and the opportunity to offer new racing and entertainment
opportunities to fans, families, businesses and horsemen during a time of year
in which the weather is usually the best our region offers,” said Kevin Flanery,
president of Churchill Downs racetrack.
“Racing Secretary Ben Huffman has worked
to fashion a schedule of compelling stakes events and an attractive roster of
daily racing opportunities that provide owners and trainers with a wide range of
competitive options for their horses.”
The Homecoming Meet’s opening weekend “Downs After Dark”
celebration on September 7 will feature four stakes events topped by the
44th running of the Pocahontas for two-year-old fillies, and the
Iroquois for juveniles set for its 32nd running. Both races
are Breeders’ Cup “Win and You’re In” events and the winners of the
Pocahontas and Iroquois will earn starting spots in the respective fields for
the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies and $2 million Juvenile
in early November at Santa Anita.
Both the Pocahontas and the Iroquois were transferred from
the positions in the Churchill Downs fall meet to the new Homecoming session.
The distance of each race has been increased from one mile to 1 1/16 miles and
the purse of the Iroquois was increased by $50,000.
Other stakes events on the September 7 evening program are the
21st running of the Grade 3, $100,000 Ack Ack Handicap for three-year-olds and
up at one mile and the $100,000 Locust Grove for distaffers at 1 1/16 miles on the main track. The Ack Ack, like the Pocahontas and
Iroquois, was moved from its spot on the fall meet stakes schedule to the new
meeting. The Locust Grove, which was previously run during the spring meet and
most recently at a mile on turf, returns from a two-year absence and has been
refashioned as a race on the main track.
The six-furlong, $100,000 Open Mind for fillies and
mares, three-year-olds and up, a race previously run during the spring meet, is scheduled to
be run on September 14. The Open Mind was most recently run in 2007 and
originated as a five-furlong race for three-year-old fillies on turf.
The $100,000 Dogwood, a one-mile race for sophomore fillies, will be run for the 38th time on September 21. Previously run
during the spring meet, the Dogwood returns to the Churchill Downs schedule
after a one-year break.
Joining the inaugural Homecoming Classic on the night
racing program on September 28 will be the 37th running of the $100,000 Jefferson Cup, a Grade
3 race for three-year-olds at one mile on turf. The
Jefferson Cup, run most recently in 2011 at a distance of 1 1/16 miles on grass,
was a spring meet attraction in its earlier renewals.
Seating for the September 7 and 28 “Downs After Dark”
celebrations and other racing programs scheduled during the first Homecoming
Meet at Churchill Downs is available for purchase online at
ChurchillDowns.com.
| CHURCHILL DOWNS HOMECOMING MEET STAKES SCHEDULE
|
| DATE | RACE | GENDER | AGE | DIST |
TRACK |
PURSE |
||||||
| 9/7 | Iroquois
(G3) |
Open | 2YO | 1 1/16 | Dirt | $150,000 | ||||||
| Pocahontas
(G2) |
Fillies | 2YO | 1 1/16 | Dirt | $150,000 | |||||||
| Locust Grove | F & M | 3&Up | 1 1/16 | Dirt | $100,000 | |||||||
| Ack Ack H.
(G3) |
Open | 3&Up | Mile | Dirt | $100,000 | 9/14 | Open Mind | F & M | 3&Up | 6 furlongs | Dirt | $100,000 |
| 9/21 | Dogwood | Fillies | 3YO | 7 furlongs | Dirt | $100,000 | ||||||
| 9/28 | Homecoming Classic | Open | 3&Up | 1 1/8 | Dirt | $175,000 | ||||||
| Jefferson Cup
(G3) |
Open | 3YO | Mile | Turf | $100,000 | |||||||
| TOTAL PURSES |
$975,000 | |||||||||||
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