by Jeff Lowe
The American Graded Stakes Committee upgraded the Sentient Flight Group Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint, TVG Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, and four other races to Grade 1 status in its annual grading session on Monday in Lexington.
The highest level of American racing will expand for the fourth year in a row, with 115 races carrying Grade 1 status in 2009, an increase from 110 in ’08, 107 in ’07, 104 in ’06, and 100 in both ’05 and ’04.
The committee reviewed 746 eligible races on the American stakes schedule and issued 488 grades, an increase from 481 graded races in 2008.
The panel considers a pyramid guideline of 20% being Grade 1 races, 30% being Grade 2 races, and 50% being Grade 3 races.
In 2009, Grade 1s will make up 23.6% of the graded schedule, 32.6% will be Grade 2s, and 43.9% will be Grade 3s.
“We don’t want to get real top heavy,” said Peter Willmott, chairman of the committee, which includes six members of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association and five racing officials. “As a result, as we evolve over the next few years, you’ll see some downgrades as well as some upgrades. It’s an evolution, not a revolution. Some of these trends take time to develop. I’m sure there will be some trends down as well as up.”
The Filly and Mare Sprint and Dirt Mile were eligible for grades for the first time. The committee also promoted the Jamaica Handicap at Belmont Park, the Vinery Madison Stakes at Keeneland Race Course, and the Pat O’ Brien and Clement L. Hirsch Handicaps at Del Mar from Grade 2 to Grade 1 status for 2009.
The Suburban Handicap at Belmont Park was the only race downgraded from Grade 1 to Grade 2 status.
The committee issued Grade 2 status to the Grey Goose Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf, which also was eligible for the first time following the expansion of the Breeders’ Cup World Championships program in 2007.
“As we do with all the races, we looked very hard,” Willmott said. “We only had two years of performances for [the Filly and Mare Sprint, Dirt Mile, and Juvenile Turf], but we looked very hard at that data that was supplied to us. We concluded that in two of those cases, they justified getting a Grade 1 rating. In the third, namely the two-year-old race, we felt that the statistical data and our judgment led us to believe it was at a Grade 2 level, which basically puts it at the top of the pyramid, if you will, for two-year-old [turf races].”
The committee typically requires a race to be run twice before it can receive grade. The three races added to the Breeders’ Cup this year—the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint, Breeders’ Cup Marathon, and Grey Goose Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf—will be considered for 2010.
“We are pleased that the Graded Stakes Committee recognized the world-class quality of the competition in our new races, and we believe its decision, along with the enthusiastic reaction of the top owners and trainers in the world, is another validation of our expansion from eight to 14 championship races,” said Pam Blatz-Murff, senior vice president of Breeders’ Cup operations.
The Juvenile Fillies Turf was technically eligible for a 2009 grade since the Breeders’ Cup funded the Epitome Breeders’ Cup Stakes with the same conditions and a $250,000 purse in 2007 at Monmouth Park, but the committee decided to wait another year to address its merits for a grade.
“It was included in the books, but there was some discussion amongst the committee members about whether they should look at it,” said Andy Schweigardt, the committee’s secretary. “The majority of the members felt they would like to see another running at $1-million to be fair to the race before considering it.”
The other races upgraded to Grade 2 status were the Nashua Stakes at Aqueduct, Churchill Downs Distaff Turf Mile Stakes, Colonial Turf Cup Stakes at Colonial Downs, Fayette Stakes and Thoroughbred Club of America Stakes at Keeneland Race Course, and West Virginia Derby at Mountaineer Park. No races were downgraded from Grade 2 to Grade 3 status.
Ten races received a boost to Grade 3 status: the Fall Highweight Handicap at Aqueduct, Derby Trial Stakes at Churchill, Round Table Handicap at Hollywood Park, Woodford Stakes at Keeneland, Presque Isle Downs Masters Stakes, Thunder Road and Daytona Handicaps at Santa Anita Park, With Anticipation Stakes at Saratoga Race Course, Massachusetts Handicap at Suffolk Downs, and Sam F. Davis Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs.
The committee downgraded the Gravesend Handicap at Aqueduct, Bay Meadows Sprint Handicap, Bill Hartack Memorial Handicap at Hawthorne Race Course, and Kentucky Cup Juvenile Stakes at Turfway Park from Grade 3 to listed status.
The Memorial Day Handicap at Calder Race Course and Deputy Minister Handicap at Gulfstream Park were ineligible for grades for 2009. The Memorial Day did not meet the purse minimum for graded stakes status in 2008, and the Deputy Minister lost its eligibility by being dormant for two straight years.
Jeff Lowe is a Thoroughbred Times staff writer