stakes schedule

  
The 135th renewal of the Grade II, $400,000-added Clark Handicap Presented by Norton Healthcare, a race that is as old as the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (GI) and the Kentucky Oaks (GI), is the premier event on a schedule of 12 stakes races with total purses of $1.775 million announced today for the Nov. 1-28 Fall Meet at historic Churchill Downs.

    The Clark Handicap, a 1 1/8-mile race for 3-year-olds and up won last year by dual Eclipse Award finalist Einstein, is scheduled for Friday, Nov. 27 and is the richest event on a stakes schedule in which every race has been granted graded stakes status by the American Graded Stakes Committee.  Other highlights of the Fall Meet stakes schedule include a pair of “Stars of Tomorrow” programs devoted exclusively to races for 2-year-old Thoroughbreds.  Each of those programs includes a pair of graded races, one for open company and one scheduled exclusively for fillies.  

    The “Stars of Tomorrow” programs are set for Sunday, Nov. 1, the opening day of the meet, and the closing day program on Saturday, Nov. 28.  The first of those programs spotlights a pair of Grade III races in the Iroquois and Pocahontas, both one-mile contests and the latter restricted to fillies.  The final “Stars of Tomorrow” day features two Grade II races at 1 1/16-miles in Kentucky Jockey Club and the Golden Rod, with the latter scheduled for fillies.  Last fall’s renewals of those races produced Rachel Alexandra, the leading candidate for 2009 “Horse of the Year” honors who finished second in the Pocahontas before launching an ongoing seven-race winning streak with a 4 3/4-length romp in the Golden Rod.  That string of stakes wins by Rachel Alexandra includes the Kentucky Oaks; a win over males in the Preakness (GI), the second jewel of the Triple Crown; and the Mother Goose (GI).

    The total purses available in the 12-race stakes program at Churchill Downs have the same value as in the 2008 Fall Meet.  One race was moved to a new position on the schedule as the $100,000-added Ack Ack Handicap (GIII), a one-mile race for 3-year-olds and up will be run this year on Friday, Nov. 6.  The Ack Ack will serve as the top attraction on the live racing card at Churchill Downs that will complement the simulcast of the first day of competition in the Nov. 6-7 Breeders’ Cup World Championships at Oak Tree at Santa Anita.

    “Our 2009 Fall Stakes schedule includes a very strong roster of graded stakes races that are either rich in tradition or growing in stature, and the quality of the overall stakes schedule is a tribute to both our horsemen and our racing office,” said Kevin Flanery, president of Churchill Downs.  “Despite intensifying competition from tracks in nearby states with purses fueled by casino revenues and the nation’s difficult economic landscape, our purses for stakes races in the 2009 Fall Meet remain level with those offered during last year’s meet.  We are pleased that our 2009 Fall Meet stakes purses remain stable despite those challenges, and we thank our owners and trainers for their continued support for racing and stakes events at Churchill Downs.”

    Other highlights of the Fall Meet Stakes schedule include the 94th running of the $150,000-added Falls City Handicap (GII) for fillies and mares ages 3 & up, a traditional Thanksgiving Day fixture that will be renewed on Nov. 26, and the 19th running of the $175,000-added Mrs. Revere (GII) for 3-year-old fillies on turf on Saturday, Nov. 14.  Like the Clark Handicap, the Falls City dates to the track’s first racing meet in 1875, but the Clark, like the Kentucky Derby and Oaks, has been renewed each year without interruption and the Falls City has missed a few years during that span.   
 
CHURCHILL DOWNS FALL STAKES SCHEDULE (NOV. 1-28)       
Date    Race (Grade)    Division    Distance (surface)       
Nov. 1    STARS OF TOMORROW I       
    $100,000-added Pocahontas (GIII)    2 YO fillies    Mile       
    $100,000-added Iroquois (GIII)    2 YO    Mile       
Nov. 6    $100,000-added Ack Ack Handicap (GIII)    3 YO & up    Mile       
Nov. 7    $150,000-added Chilukki (GII)    F & M 3 & up    Mile       
Nov. 14    $175,000-added Mrs. Revere (GII)    3 YO fillies    1 1/16 m (T)       
Nov. 15    $100,000-added Commonwealth Turf (GIII)    3 YO    1 1/16 m (T)       
Nov. 21    $100,000-added Cardinal Handicap (GIII)    3 YO & up    1 1/8 m (T)       
Nov. 26    $150,000-added Falls City Handicap (GII)    F & M 3 & up    1 1/8 m       
Nov. 27    $400,000-added Clark Handicap Presented by      Norton Healthcare (GII)    3 YO & up    1 1/8m    
Nov. 27    $100,000-added River City Handicap (GIII)    3 YO & up    1 1/8 m (T)       
Nov. 28    STARS OF TOMORROW II       
    $150,000-added Golden Rod (GII)    2 YO fillies    1 1/16 m       
    $150,000-added Kentucky Jockey Club (GII)    2 YO    1 1/16 m       
(T) – Turf  F & M – Fillies and mares YO – year-olds  m – Mile(s)    

Churchill Downs has unveiled a stakes schedule for its 2009 Spring Meet that is headed by the 135th renewals of the $2 million-guaranteed Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (Grade I) and the $500,000-added Kentucky Oaks (GI), and includes a total of 29 stakes events with total purses of $7.575 million.

Three more Grade I events are included on the schedule for the 52-day session that will run from April 25-July 5. The $500,000-added Woodford Reserve Turf Classic and $300,000-added Humana Distaff, both scheduled on the Kentucky Derby program on Saturday, May 2, and the $750,000-added Stephen Foster Handicap, which is set to head the “Stephen Foster Super Saturday” racing program on Saturday, June 13, round out the five Grade I events on the schedule.

The 2009 Spring Meet stakes schedule includes 27 graded races. Along with its five Grade I races, the schedule features six Grade II events and 16 Grade III races. Two races on the schedule were granted higher graded status by the American Graded Stakes Committee. The $100,000-added Derby Trial was restored to Grade III status for its 84th running on the meet’s opening day. The Churchill Downs Distaff Turf Mile will be a Grade II event for the first time when the one-mile turf race for fillies and mares ages three and up is renewed on Kentucky Derby Day.

Three races have new names: the $100,000-added Eight Belles (GIII), a Derby Day race formerly known as the La Troienne that now honors the ill-fated 2008 Kentucky Derby runner-up; the $350,000-added Louisville Distaff, formerly the Louisville Breeders’ Cup, on May 1; and the $100,000-added Kentucky Juvenile (GIII) on April 30, formerly the Kentucky Breeders’ Cup. One race will be run at a new distance as the $100,000 Matt Winn on May 16 moves from six furlongs to seven furlongs. Two non-graded stakes races run in 2008 will go on hiatus this year. Those races are the Opening Verse Handicap, a 1 1/16-mile turf race for 3-year-olds and up, and the Mamzelle, a five-furlong turf sprint for fillies and mares ages 3 and up.

“Our Spring Meet stakes schedule offers something for horses in all age and gender divisions, and we continue our focus of high quality, big event days with multiple stakes surrounding the Kentucky Derby, Kentucky Oaks and Stephen Foster Handicap,” said Ben Huffman, Churchill Downs racing secretary. “Declines in wagering caused by economic conditions and unexpected limits on distribution of our simulcast signal in 2008 provided challenges as we put this schedule together. But we are satisfied with the finished product and look forward to working with our horsemen to continue to present compelling, high quality stakes events to fans of Churchill Downs racing throughout North America.”

The 2009 stakes schedule includes two days that feature six stakes races headed by Grade I events. The Stephen Foster Day program on June 15 has five stakes races, and the April 30 and May 30 programs each feature a pair of stakes races.

The Kentucky Derby Day program on Saturday, May 2 will again be the biggest day of the meet as the main event will be accompanied by five other stakes races – including two other Grade I events – and total stakes purses on the day of $3.35 million. Other Grade I events on the Derby Day card include the Woodford Reserve Turf Classic and Humana Distaff, and the $250,000-added Churchill Downs Stakes (GII), Churchill Distaff Turf Mile (GII) and the Eight Belles round out the day’s stakes races. The Friday, May 1 program topped by the Kentucky Oaks also features six stakes races – five of them graded – and total purses for those events total of $1.35 million. The Kentucky Oaks, a 1 1/8-mile race that is America’s premier race for 3-year-old fillies, is supported on the program by the Louisville Distaff, $150,000-added Crown Royal American Turf (GIII), $150,000-added Alysheba (GIII), $100,000-added Aegon Turf Sprint (GIII) and the $100,000-added Edgewood.

The Stephen Foster Handicap, a 1 1/8-mile race for 3-year-olds and up, tops the June 13 “Stephen Foster Super Saturday” program of five graded stakes races with total purses $1.55 million. Last year’s Stephen Foster featured a 1-2 finish by reigning “Horse of the Year” Curlin and Woodford Reserve Turf Classic and Clark Handicap (GII) winner Einstein – two of the three finalists for the Eclipse Award that honors America’s top older horse. Other races on the “Super Saturday” program include the $200,000-added Jefferson Cup (GII), $150,000-added Northern Dancer (GIII), $300,000-added Fleur de Lis Handicap (GII), and $150,000-added Regret (GIII). The May 30 program will include the $100,000-added Aristides (GIII) and $100,000-added Dogwood (GIII).

Churchill Downs, the world’s most legendary racetrack, has conducted Thoroughbred racing and presented America’s greatest race, the Kentucky Derby, continuously since 1875. Located in Louisville, the flagship racetrack of Churchill Downs Incorporated (NASDAQ Global Select Market: CHDN) also operates Trackside at Churchill Downs, which offers year-round simulcast wagering at the historic track. Churchill Downs will conduct the 135th running of the Kentucky Derby on May 2, 2009. The track’s 2009 Spring Meet is scheduled for April 25-July 5. Churchill Downs has hosted the Breeders’ Cup World Championships a record six times, and will host the international racing championship again on Nov. 5-6, 2010. Information about Churchill Downs can be found on the Internet at www.churchilldowns.com.