The 140th runnings of the $2 million Kentucky
Derby and $1 million Kentucky Oaks, as well as the 33rd running of the $500,000 Stephen Foster Handicap, are the
highlights of a record six Grade 1 events that headline
Churchill Downs’ schedule of 24 stakes races cumulatively worth $7.675 million during
its April 26-June 29 spring meet.
Total purses for the 2014 spring meet stakes events reflect
an increase of 2.7 percent from 2013.
The spring stakes schedule continues Churchill Downs’
emphasis on big days highlighted by multiple stakes races, and the Kentucky Derby
Day card on May 3 will be the richest in track history. The Derby
program offers six stakes events with record total purses of $3.75 million. Half
of those races are Grade 1 events — the Derby, $500,000 Woodford
Reserve Turf Classic for four-year-olds and up at 1 1/8 miles on turf and $300,000 Humana Distaff for
four-years-old and up distaffers going seven
furlongs on the main track — and the rest are Grade 2 contests.
Along with the trio of Grade 1 races, the Kentucky Derby
Day card features the 80th running of the $400,000 Churchill Downs for four-year-olds and up at seven furlongs; $300,000
Churchill Distaff Turf Mile for fillies and mares, four-years-old and up
on the Matt Winn Turf Course; and $250,000 American Turf for sophomores at 1 1/16 miles on grass. The latter will be run
on Derby Day for the first time after being part of the Kentucky Oaks Day
program since its inception in 1998.
The decision by the American Graded Stakes Committee to
grant Grade 1 status to the $300,000 La Troienne, a 1 1/16-mile race for
fillies and mares ages four and up on Kentucky Oaks Day, May 2, increased
the number of spring meet Grade 1s to six. The track will offer seven Grade 1
races in 2014 with the inclusion of the 140th running of the Clark Handicap, a fall
meet fixture.
The Kentucky Oaks, for three-year-old fillies, and the 39th running of the La Troienne
are the marquee races on an Oaks Day stakes schedule that also features a total
of six stakes events, five of them graded contests, with total purses of $2.075
million.
Another highlight on the Oaks Day program will be the 11th
running of the Grade 2, $300,000 Alysheba. The 1 1/16-mile race for four-year-olds and up has been won over
the past three years by such stars as Take Charge Indy (2013), Successful
Dan (2012) and First Dude (2011) against fields that have included the likes of
future two-time Horse of the Year (2012-2013) Wise Dan, who finished eighth in
2011, and future Breeders’ Cup Classic winners Fort Larned (2012) and Mucho
Macho Man (2013), who finished second and third, respectively, in the Alysheba’s
2012 running.
Completing the Kentucky Oaks Day schedule are the
Grade 3, $175,000 Eight Belles, a seven-furlong race for three-year-old fillies;
Grade 3, $150,000 Twin Spires Turf Sprint, a five-furlong turf event for
four-year-olds and up; and $150,000 Edgewood, a 1
1/16-mile race for sophomore fillies on turf.
The Stephen Foster Handicap, the racing centerpiece of a
“Downs After Dark” night racing program on June 14, is one of the
major American races for older horses and heads a schedule of four races beneath
the Churchill Downs lights that offer total stakes purses of $900,000. Sharing
the nighttime spotlight with the Foster are the 39th running of the
Grade 2, $200,000 Fleur de Lis Handicap, a 1 1/8-mile race for fillies and
mares ages three and up; Grade 3, $100,000 Matt Winn sending sophomores 1
1/16 miles; and Grade 3, $100,000 Regret for three-year-old fillies at 1 1/8
miles on turf.
One other multi-stakes program is set the for the June 28 program which will spotlight the 24th running
Grade 2, $200,000 Firecracker for three-year-olds at up at a mile on turf and 113th running of the
Grade 3, $100,000 Bashford Manor for juveniles at six furlongs as its
co-features. The Firecracker has been won in two of the last three years by
2012-13 Horse of the Year Wise Dan.
The 2014 spring stakes schedule will be launched by the
90th running of the Grade 3, $150,000 Derby Trial, a one-mile race for
sophomores that is the racing highlight of the “Opening Night” celebration
under the lights on April 26 that kicks off the spring meet and
Kentucky Derby Week.
Other events include the Grade 3, $100,000 Louisville Handicap at 1 1/2 miles on turf for
three-year-olds and up on May 24; Grade 3, $100,000 Winning Colors for fillies and mares age
three and up at six
furlongs on the Memorial Day card on May 26; Grade 3, $100,000 Aristides for
three-year-olds and up at six furlongs on May 31; Grade 3, $100,000 Mint Julep
Handicap for fillies and mares age
three and up at 1 1/16 grassy miles on June 7; and 114th running of
the $100,000 Debutante for juvenile fillies at six furlongs on June 21.
Changes to purses and other race conditions in the 2014
stakes schedule compared to the prior year:
status by the American Graded Stakes Committee
($250,000 to $300,000), American Turf ($200,000 to $250,000) and Firecracker
($150,000 to $200,000)
($150,000 to $175,000), Twin Spires Turf Sprint ($125,000 to
$150,000) and Fleur de Lis Handicap ($175,000 to $200,000)
Oaks Day
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