NEWS
Ohio Derby highlights Thistledown stakes schedule
Posted: Wednesday, February 08, 2012 3:38 PM
Edited press release
All 17 stakes races presented by Thistledown last year will return for the 2012 meet, Racing Secretary Bill Couch said Wednesday, including Ohio’s only graded stakes race, the Ohio Derby (G3).
While much about the schedule remains the same, significant changes in timing are meant to boost not only field size but also national attention.
Altogether the schedule offers $907,000 in purses, unchanged from last year. Also like last year, all stakes except the Ohio Derby are restricted to registered Ohio foals or accredited Ohio foals. New this year, however, is the switch to Friday for ten of the 17 stakes races.
Among those moved to Friday is the Best of Ohio series on October 12. “Moving these stakes to Friday will give the state program a simulcast boost by taking them off New York and Kentucky Breeders’ Cup preview Saturdays,” said Couch.
Another race switched to Friday is the $75,000 Daniel Stearns Cleveland Gold Cup for three-year-old registered Ohio foals. The 1 1/8-mile race will run July 6, kicking off a three-stakes weekend that includes the Ohio Derby and the Cleveland Kindergarten Stakes, both July 7.
The three-stakes weekend provides opportunity for a proposed all-stakes Pick 3 and a double involving the Cleveland Gold Cup on Friday and the Ohio Derby on Saturday.
The winner of last year’s Ohio Derby was Caleb’s Posse, who later won two Grade 1 races including the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile and was second, three votes back, to Animal Kingdom in the Eclipse Award tally for champion three-year-old.
“Last year’s edition of the Ohio Derby will be a tough act to follow,” said Couch. “I’ll be scanning the country for horses the caliber of Caleb’s Posse, those whose owners are looking for late-summer graded events with an eye on the Breeders’ Cup. I’ll be looking for horses that, like ‘Posse early last year, are diamonds in the rough—young promising horses on the improve. Recruiting such horses to continue the tradition of the Ohio Derby is what keeps me going.”
The Ohio Derby tradition is 78 years strong this year. The 1 1/16-mile race carries the meet’s largest purse at $100,000.
The $50,000 Cleveland Kindergarten Stakes has been shortened this year from six furlongs to 5 1/2 furlongs. The Kindergarten was last run at the shorter distance in 2003. The race’s most accomplished graduate is Harlan’s Holiday, who broke his maiden in the 2001 renewal and went on to win three Grade 1 races and place in four others before retiring as Ohio’s richest Thoroughbred with more than $3.6 million in earnings.
Comprising the entire 2012 Thistledown stakes schedule, all run on dirt, are:
May 4-$50,000 Dr. T. F. Classen Memorial, 3yo and up fillies and mares, 6 furlongs
May 26-$50,000 Michael F. Rowland Memorial, 3yo and up, 6 furlongs
May 28-$50,000 Angenora, 3yo and up fillies and mares, 6 furlongs
June 16-$50,000 J. Wm. Petro Memorial, 3yo and up fillies and mares, 8.5 furlongs
July 6-$75,000 Daniel Stearns Cleveland Gold Cup, 3yo, 9 furlongs
July 7-$50,000 Cleveland Kindergarten, 2yo, 5.5 furlongs
July 7-$100,000 Ohio Derby (G3), 3yo, 8.5 furlongs
July 13-$50,000 George Lewis Memorial, 3yo and up, 9 furlongs
Aug. 18-$50,000 Honey Jay, 3yo and up, 6 furlongs
Aug. 31-$50,000 Miss Ohio, 2yo fillies, 6 furlongs
Sept. 1-$50,000 Rose DeBartolo Memorial, 3yo and up fillies and mares, 9 furlongs
Sept. 7-$50,000 Governor’s Buckeye Cup, 3yo and up, 10 furlongs
Oct. 12-$75,000 Best of Ohio Distaff, 3yo and up fillies and mares, 9 furlongs
Oct. 12-$75,000 Best of Ohio Endurance, 3yo and up, 10 furlongs
Oct. 12-$50,000 Best of Ohio Sprint, 3yo and up, 6 furlongs
Oct. 12-$75,000 John W. Galbreath, 2yo fillies, 8.5 furlongs
Oct. 12-$75,000 Juvenile, 2yo, 8.5 furlongs
The 2012 Thistledown meet begins May 4 and runs through Nov. 17. The Cleveland-area track will offer live racing Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday from opening day and add Thursdays to the schedule beginning Sept. 6. Post times remain under discussion.
