Keeneland Announces $5.325 Million Stakes Schedule for 2017 Fall Meet

By Amy Owens —-

First Lady debuts as Breeders’ Cup Challenge race;
Woodford now Grade 2 stakes worth $200,000

LEXINGTON, KY (June 21, 2017) – Keeneland’s 2017 Fall Meet, which covers 17 days from Oct. 6-28, will present six Grade 1 races among 17 graded stakes worth $5.325 million and will showcase many of the nation’s top contenders aiming for the Breeders’ Cup World Championships during its signature Fall Stars Weekend on the first three days of the season.

Among the most prestigious race meets in the country, Keeneland’s Fall Meet offers one of the richest purse structures in North America and attracts Thoroughbred racing’s equine and human stars.

Fall Stars Weekend will feature nine graded stakes, including five Grade 1 events anchored by the $1 million Shadwell Turf Mile (G1) that are worth a total of $3.75 million. Eight of those stakes, including the $400,000 First Lady (G1) for the first time, are Breeders’ Cup Challenge “Win and You’re In” races that award the winners automatic berths in the Breeders’ Cup, to be held at Del Mar on Nov. 3-4.

“Keeneland is proud to once again offer an elite schedule of races that are key targets for the sport’s most accomplished horses and budding superstars,” Keeneland Vice President of Racing and Sales Bob Elliston said. “The level of competition between the nation’s leading owners, trainers and jockeys is unparalleled and is sure to thrill racing fans and handicappers alike.”

A total of nine Keeneland Fall Meet stakes are Breeders’ Cup Challenge events. The eight Breeders’ Cup Challenge stakes held over Fall Stars Weekend are the $400,000 Darley Alcibiades (G1) (which awards the winner a berth in the Juvenile Fillies-G1) and $250,000 Stoll Keenon Ogden Phoenix (G2) (TwinSpires Sprint-G1) on Friday, Oct. 6; Shadwell Turf Mile (Mile-G1), $500,000 Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity (G1) (Sentient Jet Juvenile-G1), First Lady (Filly and Mare Turf-G1) and $250,000 Thoroughbred Club of America (G2) (Filly and Mare Sprint-G1) on Saturday, Oct. 7; and $500,000 Juddmonte Spinster (G1) (Distaff-G1) and $250,000 Dixiana Bourbon (G3) (Juvenile Turf-G1) on Sunday, Oct. 8.

The other graded stakes during Fall Stars Weekend, also being run Oct. 7, is the $200,000 Woodford (G2) Presented by Keeneland Select, upgraded for 2017 by the American Graded Stakes Committee of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association. Keeneland added $50,000 to the purse of the Woodford, formerly a Grade 3 race.

The ninth Breeders’ Cup Challenge race at Keeneland is the $150,000 JPMorgan Chase Jessamine (G3) on Wednesday, Oct. 11. The race awards the winner a spot in the starting gate for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1).

The Fall Meet’s sixth Grade 1 stakes, scheduled for Oct. 14, the second Saturday of the season, is the internationally prestigious $500,000 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup Presented by Lane’s End for 3-year-old fillies at 1 1/8 miles on the turf.

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NBC Sports Group will cover four of Keeneland’s Breeders’ Cup Challenge races on opening weekend of the Fall Meet as part of its “Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series: Win and You’re In, presented by Lane’s End Farm and America’s Best Racing.” On Saturday, Oct. 7, from 5-6 p.m. ET, the $1 million Shadwell Turf Mile (G1) and $500,000 Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity (G1) will air on NBC along with the Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1) at Belmont Park. On Sunday, Oct. 8, NBC Sports Network will broadcast the $500,000 Juddmonte Spinster (G1) and $250,000 Dixiana Bourbon (G3) from 5-6 p.m.

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Since the inaugural Breeders’ Cup World Championships in 1984, the winners of 45 Breeders’ Cup races made their final start before the event during Keeneland’s Fall Meet. Last year’s Breeders’ Cup winners included eventual champion 2-year-old male Classic Empire, who won the Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity (G1) before taking the Sentient Jet Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1), and Breeders’ Cup Mile (G1) winner Tourist, who was third in the Shadwell Turf Mile (G1).

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Last year, during its 80th anniversary season, Keeneland posted Fall Meet attendance records and substantial gains in on-track and all-sources wagering. A record 276,543 people attended the 17-day meet for a record average of 16,267 fans each day. Fall Stars Weekend set the tone for the season with Keeneland hosting a record 66,437 fans over the opening three days.

Keeneland 2017 Fall Stakes Schedule: Oct. 6-28
Date Stakes Division Distance

Oct. 6 $400,000 Darley Alcibiades (G1)* 2YO Fillies 1 1/16 Miles
Oct. 6 $250,000 Stoll Keenon Ogden Phoenix (G2)* 3YOs & Up 6 Furlongs
Oct. 7 $1 Million Shadwell Turf Mile (G1)* 3YOs & Up 1 Mile (T)
Oct. 7 $500,000 Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity (G1)* 2YOs 1 1/16 Miles
Oct. 7 $400,000 First Lady (G1)* 3YOs & Up, F&M 1 Mile (T)
Oct. 7 $250,000 Thoroughbred Club of America (G2)* 3YOs & Up, F&M 6 Furlongs
Oct. 7 $200,000 Woodford (G2) Presented
by Keeneland Select 3YOs & Up 5½ Furlongs (T)
Oct. 8 $500,000 Juddmonte Spinster (G1)* 3YOs & Up, F&M 1 1/8 Miles
Oct. 8 $250,000 Dixiana Bourbon (G3)* 2YOs 1 1/16 Miles (T)
Oct. 11 $150,000 JPMorgan Chase Jessamine (G3)* 2YO Fillies 1 1/16 Miles (T)
Oct. 13 $100,000 Buffalo Trace Franklin County (G3) 3YOs & Up, F&M 5½ Furlongs (T)
Oct. 14 $500,000 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup (G1) Presented by Lane’s End 3YO Fillies 1 1/8 Miles (T)
Oct. 19 $100,000 Sycamore (G3) 3YOs & Up 1½ Miles (T)
Oct. 20 $150,000 Pin Oak Valley View (G3) 3YO Fillies 1 1/16 Miles (T)
Oct. 21 $250,000 Lexus Raven Run (G2) 3YO Fillies 7 Furlongs
Oct. 22 $125,000 Rood & Riddle Dowager (G3) 3YOs & Up, F&M 1½ Miles (T)
Oct. 28 $200,000 Hagyard Fayette (G2) 3YO & Up 1 1/8 Miles

*Breeders’ Cup Challenge stakes
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For more than 80 years, the Keeneland Association has devoted itself to the health and vibrancy of the Thoroughbred industry. As the world’s largest Thoroughbred auction company, Keeneland conducts sales every January, September and November. Its sales graduates dominate racing across the globe at every level. In April and October, Keeneland offers some of the highest caliber and richest Thoroughbred racing in the world. In 2015, Keeneland hosted the Breeders’ Cup World Championships. Uniquely structured, Keeneland is a private, for-profit corporation that returns its earnings to the industry and the community in the form of higher purses, and it has donated millions of dollars in charitable contributions for education, research and health and human services throughout Central Kentucky. To learn more about Keeneland, visit Keeneland.com.