Churchill: $1.625 million fall stakes schedule
Sept 20, 2013 8:36:24 GMT -5
Post by Jon on Sept 20, 2013 8:36:24 GMT -5
Churchill Downs releases $1.625 million fall stakes schedule
vThe 140th running of the Grade 1, $500,000 Clark Handicap, a race that shares a rich history with the Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks, is the premier event on a roster of nine stakes races with total purses of $1.625 million scheduled to be run during Churchill Downs' October 27-November 30 fall meet.
The Clark, a race for three-year-olds and up that has attracted some of the most talented older horses in American racing in recent years, will be renewed in 2013 in its traditional day-after-Thanksgiving spot on November 29. All nine stakes races scheduled for the meet are graded events.
The race named for the family of Churchill Downs founder Meriwether Lewis Clark dates back to 1875 and the first racing meet at a new track known as the Louisville Jockey Club. Like the Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks, which also debuted at that meet, the Clark Handicap has been run annually without interruption since its first running.
The fall meet highlights will include a pair of the popular "Stars of Tomorrow" programs devoted exclusively to races for two-year-olds. Those special programs, staged for the ninth straight year, are scheduled for opening day on Sunday, October 27, and closing day on November 30.
The Clark Handicap will be run as a Grade 1 event for the fourth consecutive year and for the fifth time in seven years. Notable recent winners include Shackelford, the Preakness and Metropolitan Mile winner who ended his racing career in last year's running; 2012 Horse of the Year Wise Dan, who capped his championship season with a win on grass in the Breeders' Cup Mile after closing 2011 with a victory on dirt in the Clark; Blame, whose victory in the 2009 Clark preceded a 2010 campaign that concluded at Churchill Downs with his riveting win over previously unbeaten 2009 Horse of the Year Zenyatta in the Breeders' Cup Classic and Eclipse Award honors as champion older male; Einstein, the 2008 winner and an Eclipse Award finalist for both top older male and best turf horse; Premium Tap, who rolled to a dominating victory in the 2006 Clark following a third-place performance behind Invasor and Bernardini in the Breeders' Cup Classic; Saint Liam, who won the Clark in 2004 and went to win the Breeders' Cup Classic and earn Horse of the Year honors in 2005; Surfside, a three-year-old filly who defeated males in the 2000 Clark on her way to Eclipse Award honors as the best in her division; and 1997 Kentucky Derby winner Silver Charm, who returned the following year to win the Clark and become the first Derby winner to earn the Derby-Clark double since Whirlaway, who won the roses for Calumet Farm in 1941.
The featured events on the Opening Day "Stars of Tomorrow I" program include a pair of new overnight stakes events with purses of $65,000: the Street Sense and Rags to Riches, both to be run at one mile on the main track. The Street Sense is an open race for juveniles named in honor of the winner of the 2007 Kentucky Derby and 2006 Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Churchill Downs. The Rags to Riches, a race restricted to two-year-old fillies, honors the 2007 Kentucky Oaks winner who later defeated Preakness winner and two-time Horse of the Year Curlin in the Belmont Stakes and was named the Eclipse Award champion three-year-old filly. Both Street Sense and Rags to Riches made their racing debuts as two-year-olds at Churchill Downs.
The headline events of "Stars of Tomorrow II" are more familiar as the Kentucky Jockey Club and the $175,000 Golden Rod for fillies, both Grade 2 events worth $175,000, will share the spotlight on November 30. The races are stops on the respective Road to the Kentucky Derby and Road to the Kentucky Oaks point systems that will determine the participants in the 2014 renewals of the Derby and the Oaks.
Other Grade 2 events on the stakes schedule include the $150,000 Chilukki, a race for fillies and mares ages three and up at one mile that will have the on-track spotlight on Breeders' Cup Saturday, November 2; the $175,000 Mrs. Revere on November 16, a 1 1/16-mile turf test that offers three-year-old fillies one of the their final opportunities to compete in members of their age group; and the $150,000 Falls City Handicap, a 1 1/8-mile race for fillies and mares ages three and up on the main track that is the annual racing centerpiece of the Thanksgiving Day celebration at Churchill Downs on November 28.
Grade 3 events on the Fall Meet schedule include the $100,000 Cardinal Handicap on November 9, a race for fillies and mares ages three and up at 1 1/8 miles on the Matt Winn Turf Course; the $100,000 Commonwealth Turf, a race for three-year-olds on the grass on November 16; and the $100,000 River City Handicap, a 1 1/8-mile race for three-year-olds and up on turf scheduled for November 23.
Brisnet
vThe 140th running of the Grade 1, $500,000 Clark Handicap, a race that shares a rich history with the Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks, is the premier event on a roster of nine stakes races with total purses of $1.625 million scheduled to be run during Churchill Downs' October 27-November 30 fall meet.
The Clark, a race for three-year-olds and up that has attracted some of the most talented older horses in American racing in recent years, will be renewed in 2013 in its traditional day-after-Thanksgiving spot on November 29. All nine stakes races scheduled for the meet are graded events.
The race named for the family of Churchill Downs founder Meriwether Lewis Clark dates back to 1875 and the first racing meet at a new track known as the Louisville Jockey Club. Like the Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks, which also debuted at that meet, the Clark Handicap has been run annually without interruption since its first running.
The fall meet highlights will include a pair of the popular "Stars of Tomorrow" programs devoted exclusively to races for two-year-olds. Those special programs, staged for the ninth straight year, are scheduled for opening day on Sunday, October 27, and closing day on November 30.
The Clark Handicap will be run as a Grade 1 event for the fourth consecutive year and for the fifth time in seven years. Notable recent winners include Shackelford, the Preakness and Metropolitan Mile winner who ended his racing career in last year's running; 2012 Horse of the Year Wise Dan, who capped his championship season with a win on grass in the Breeders' Cup Mile after closing 2011 with a victory on dirt in the Clark; Blame, whose victory in the 2009 Clark preceded a 2010 campaign that concluded at Churchill Downs with his riveting win over previously unbeaten 2009 Horse of the Year Zenyatta in the Breeders' Cup Classic and Eclipse Award honors as champion older male; Einstein, the 2008 winner and an Eclipse Award finalist for both top older male and best turf horse; Premium Tap, who rolled to a dominating victory in the 2006 Clark following a third-place performance behind Invasor and Bernardini in the Breeders' Cup Classic; Saint Liam, who won the Clark in 2004 and went to win the Breeders' Cup Classic and earn Horse of the Year honors in 2005; Surfside, a three-year-old filly who defeated males in the 2000 Clark on her way to Eclipse Award honors as the best in her division; and 1997 Kentucky Derby winner Silver Charm, who returned the following year to win the Clark and become the first Derby winner to earn the Derby-Clark double since Whirlaway, who won the roses for Calumet Farm in 1941.
The featured events on the Opening Day "Stars of Tomorrow I" program include a pair of new overnight stakes events with purses of $65,000: the Street Sense and Rags to Riches, both to be run at one mile on the main track. The Street Sense is an open race for juveniles named in honor of the winner of the 2007 Kentucky Derby and 2006 Breeders' Cup Juvenile at Churchill Downs. The Rags to Riches, a race restricted to two-year-old fillies, honors the 2007 Kentucky Oaks winner who later defeated Preakness winner and two-time Horse of the Year Curlin in the Belmont Stakes and was named the Eclipse Award champion three-year-old filly. Both Street Sense and Rags to Riches made their racing debuts as two-year-olds at Churchill Downs.
The headline events of "Stars of Tomorrow II" are more familiar as the Kentucky Jockey Club and the $175,000 Golden Rod for fillies, both Grade 2 events worth $175,000, will share the spotlight on November 30. The races are stops on the respective Road to the Kentucky Derby and Road to the Kentucky Oaks point systems that will determine the participants in the 2014 renewals of the Derby and the Oaks.
Other Grade 2 events on the stakes schedule include the $150,000 Chilukki, a race for fillies and mares ages three and up at one mile that will have the on-track spotlight on Breeders' Cup Saturday, November 2; the $175,000 Mrs. Revere on November 16, a 1 1/16-mile turf test that offers three-year-old fillies one of the their final opportunities to compete in members of their age group; and the $150,000 Falls City Handicap, a 1 1/8-mile race for fillies and mares ages three and up on the main track that is the annual racing centerpiece of the Thanksgiving Day celebration at Churchill Downs on November 28.
Grade 3 events on the Fall Meet schedule include the $100,000 Cardinal Handicap on November 9, a race for fillies and mares ages three and up at 1 1/8 miles on the Matt Winn Turf Course; the $100,000 Commonwealth Turf, a race for three-year-olds on the grass on November 16; and the $100,000 River City Handicap, a 1 1/8-mile race for three-year-olds and up on turf scheduled for November 23.
Brisnet