NEWS
Keeneland fall meet features 19 stakes races worth $5.4-million
Posted: Tuesday, June 03, 2008 5:36 PM
Keeneland Race Course will run 19 stakes races worth a track record $5.4-million during its 19-day fall meeting, which will be held October 3-25.
Fifteen of the stakes are graded, including three races that recently were elevated by the American Graded Stakes Committee. They include the $400,000 First Lady Stakes (G1), a one-mile turf race for fillies and mares on October 3 that was elevated from Grade 2 status.
Two races were also elevated from listed to Grade 3 status. They are the $200,000 Woodford Reserve Bourbon Stakes (G3), a 1 1/16-mile turf race for two-year-olds on October 5, and the $150,000 Bryan Station Stakes (G3), a one-mile turf race for three-year-olds on October 12.
The Woodford Reserve Bourbon and the $150,000 Woodford Stakes, a 5 1/2-furlong turf race on October 4, both received $50,000 purse increases.
“Keeneland’s fall meet is unlike any other in the world; competitive racing in such a beautiful environment,” Director of Racing Rogers Beasley said. “We are very excited to be able to offer our horsemen and fans so many great opportunities.”
The fall meet begins with FallStars Weekend, three days of racing that is highlighted by nine stakes worth a combined $3.4-million. Five Grade 1 races will be run during the weekend.
The First Lady and the $500,000 Darley Alcibiades Stakes (G1), a 1 1/16-mile race for two-year-old fillies, will be run on October 3. Two Grade 1 races will be contested on October 4—the $600,000 Shadwell Turf Mile Stakes (G1) and the $500,000 Lane’s End Breeders’ Futurity (G1), a 1 1/16-mile race for two-year-olds.
The $500,000 Juddmonte Spinster Stakes (G1), a 1 1/8-mile race for fillies and mares, will be run on October 5.
Six FallStars stakes will offer winners automatic berths in the Breeders’ Cup World Championships as part of the Breeders' Cup Challenge “Win and You’re In” series. Those races and the qualifying Breeders’ Cup race include the Darley Alcibiades (Breeders’ Cup Juvenile fillies [G1]), Lane’s End Breeders’ Futurity (Breeders’ Cup Juvenile [G1]), Shadwell Mile (Breeders’ Cup Mile [G1]), Juddmonte Spinster (Breeders’ Cup Ladies Classic [G1]), and the Woodford Reserve Bourbon (Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf).
The winner of the JPMorgan Chase Jessamine Stakes, a 1 1/16-mile turf race for two-year-old fillies on October 9, will receive a berth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf.
