Turf Classic Stakes
Grade I race | |
Location |
Churchill Downs Louisville, Kentucky, United States |
---|---|
Inaugurated | 1987 |
Race type | Thoroughbred - Flat racing |
Website | Churchill Downs |
Race information | |
Distance | 1 1⁄8 miles (9 furlongs) |
Surface | Turf |
Track | Left-handed |
Qualification | Four-year-olds & up |
Weight | 124 pounds with allowances |
Purse | $500,000 (since 2007)[1] |
The Turf Classic Stakes is an American thoroughbred horse race run in early May at Churchill Downs open to horses four years old and up. It is raced on turf at a distance of one and one-eighth miles and currently offers a purse of $500,000.
Formerly known as the Early Times Turf Classic Stakes, it is now sponsored by Woodford Reserve. A major springtime race, it has been a grade I event since 1998.[1] Male horses who have recently won a Grade I race carry 124 pounds – other horses are given reduced weights (allowances).[2]
The 1987 inaugural running was won by the 1986 Breeders' Cup Turf winner, Manila. Other notable winners include two-time Horse of the Year Wise Dan and champion turf horses Sky Classic, Paradise Creek and English Channel.[3]
Records
- Speed record
- 1:46.34 - Lure (1993)
- Most wins
- Most wins by an owner
- 2 - Allen E. Paulson (1991, 1992)
- 2 - Claiborne Farm (1993, 2004)
- 2 - Morton Fink (2013, 2014)
- 2 - Gunpowder Farms (2016, 2017)
- Most wins by a jockey
- 3 - Pat Day (1988, 1994, 1996)
- 3 - Jerry D. Bailey (1991, 1997, 2004)
- Most wins by a Trainer
- 2 - Richard J. Lundy (1991, 1992)
- 2 - William I. Mott (1994, 2004)
- 2 - Helen Pitts (2008, 2009)
- 2 - Charles Lopresti (2013, 2014)
- 2 - William Bradley (2016, 2017)
Winners of the Turf Classic Stakes since 1987
Year |
Winner |
Age |
Jockey |
Trainer |
Owner |
Distance (Miles) |
Time |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2017 | Divisidero | 5 | Julien Leparoux | William B. Bradley | Gunpowder Farms | 1-1/8 | 1:52.42 |
2016 | Divisidero | 4 | Edgar S. Prado | William B. Bradley | Gunpowder Farms | 1-1/8 | 1:47.37 |
2015 | Finnegans Wake | 6 | Victor Espinoza | Peter Miller | Donegal Racing/Rockingham Ranch | 1-1/8 | 1:47.24 |
2014 | Wise Dan | 7 | John Velazquez | Charles Lopresti | Morton Fink | 1-1/8 | 1:47.73 |
2013 | Wise Dan | 6 | Jose Lezcano | Charles Lopresti | Morton Fink | 1-1/8 | 1:51.84 |
2012 | Little Mike | 5 | Joe Bravo | Dale L. Romans | Priscilla Vaccarezza | 1-1/8 | 1:48.81 |
2011 | Get Stormy | 5 | Ramon Dominguez | Tom Bush | Sullimar Stables | 1-1/8 | 1:50.81 |
2010 | General Quarters | 4 | Rafael Bejarano | Thomas R. McCarthy | Thomas R. McCarthy | 1-1/8 | 1:53.42 |
2009 | Einstein | 7 | Julien Leparoux | Helen Pitts | Midnight Cry Stable | 1-1/8 | 1:49.62 |
2008 | Einstein | 6 | Robby Albarado | Helen Pitts | P. Cunningham/M. Greene | 1-1/8 | 1:50.50 |
2007 | Sky Conqueror | 5 | Javier Castellano | Darwin D. Banach | William A. Sorokolit, Sr. | 1-1/8 | 1:49.01 |
2006 | English Channel | 4 | Garrett K. Gomez | Todd A. Pletcher | James T. Scatuorchio | 1-1/8 | 1:47.15 |
2005 | America Alive | 4 | Robby Albarado | Neil J. Howard | Mill House Stable | 1-1/8 | 1:47.34 |
2004 | Stroll | 4 | Jerry D. Bailey | William I. Mott | Claiborne Farm | 1-1/8 | 1:53.00 |
2003 | Honor In War | 4 | David R. Flores | Paul McGee | 3rd Turn Stables | 1-1/8 | 1:46.67 |
2002 | Beat Hollow | 5 | Alex Solis | Robert J. Frankel | Juddmonte Farms | 1-1/8 | 1:47.35 |
2001 | White Heart | 6 | Gary Stevens | Neil Drysdale | Gainsborough Farms | 1-1/8 | 1:48.75 |
2000 | Manndar | 4 | Corey Nakatani | C. Beau Greely | Columbine Stable et al. | 1-1/8 | 1:47.91 |
1999 | Wild Event | 6 | Shane Sellers | Lou M. Goldfine | Arthur I. Appleton | 1-1/8 | 1:47.25 |
1998 | Joyeux Danseur | 5 | Robby Albarado | Albert Stall, Jr. | B. Wayne Hughes | 1-1/8 | 1:48.14 |
1997 | Always A Classic | 4 | Jerry D. Bailey | Mark Frostad | Sam-Son Farm | 1-1/8 | 1:49.29 |
1996 | Mecke | 4 | Pat Day | Emanuel Tortora | James Lewis, Jr. | 1-1/8 | 1:49.48 |
1995 | Romarin | 5 | Corey Nakatani | Richard Mandella | L. E. de Paula Machado | 1-1/8 | 1:46.86 |
1994 | Paradise Creek | 5 | Pat Day | William I. Mott | Masayuki Nishiyama | 1-1/8 | 1:48.34 |
1993 | Lure | 4 | Mike E. Smith | C. R. McGaughey III | Claiborne Farm | 1-1/8 | 1:46.34 |
1992 | Cudas | 4 | Pat Valenzuela | Richard J. Lundy | Allen E. Paulson | 1-1/8 | 1:46.56 |
1991 | Opening Verse | 5 | Jerry D. Bailey | Richard J. Lundy | Allen E. Paulson | 1-1/8 | 1:47.22 |
1990 | Ten Keys | 6 | Kent Desormeaux | Michael Pino | Charles Linhoss | 1-1/8 | 1:50.80 |
1989 | Equalize | 7 | Jose Santos | Angel Penna, Sr. | Alejandro Menditeguy | 1-1/8 | 1:51.40 |
1988 | Yankee Affair | 6 | Pat Day | Henry L. Carroll | Jujugen Stable | 1-1/8 | 1:50.00 |
1987 | Manila | 4 | Angel Cordero, Jr. | LeRoy Jolley | Bradley M. Shannon | 1-1/8 | 1:48.80 |
See also
- Woodford Reserve Turf Classic Stakes "top three finishers" and starters
- List of graded stakes at Churchill Downs
References
- 1 2 "Turf Classic Stakes Profile". www.equibase.com. Retrieved 6 May 2017.
- ↑ "Nominations and conditions for the Turf Classic" (PDF). www.churchilldowns.com. Retrieved 6 May 2017.
- ↑ "Defending Winner Divisidero, Top Females Lady Eli, Miss Temple City Nominated to Woodford Reserve Turf Classic". www.churchilldowns.com. Retrieved 6 May 2017.