Churchill Downs announces 2017 Spring Meet stakes schedule

The 143rd runnings of the Grade I, $2 million Kentucky Derby and the Grade I, $1 million Kentucky Oaks headline 34 stakes races that will offer $8.84 million in total purses during Churchill Downs’ 38-day Spring Meet.

The Spring Meet stakes roster features nine racing sessions with two or more stakes events and a pair of races previously contested at Arlington Park, the Louisville track’s sister racecourse in Arlington Heights, Ill. The meet will be start with an “Opening Night” card on Saturday, April 29, and will conclude with racing under the lights on Friday, June 30.

The Kentucky Derby heads a powerhouse lineup of seven stakes events on Saturday, May 6, that features three Grade I events and total purses of $4.15 million.

The Kentucky Oaks Day program on the eve of Derby Day offers six stakes events with combined purses of $2.2 million.

The “Downs After Dark” program under the lights on Saturday, June 17, features the Grade III, $500,000 Stephen Foster Handicap for 3-year-olds and up. There are five stakes contests that day with total purses of $1.1 million.

The new additions to the Spring Meet stakes schedule are the pair of Grade III stakes races for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up that have been moved from Arlington Park: the 80th running of the $100,000 Matron, a 1 1/16-mile race on the main track on May 20, and the 28th running of the $100,000 Chicago Handicap, a 7-furlong race on dirt that will be run on June 24.

Of the 35 stakes races set for the Spring Meet, six have been designated as Grade I events by the Graded Stakes Committee of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association. Along with the Derby, Oaks and Stephen Foster, there are the $500,000 Woodford Reserve Turf Classic for 4-year-olds and up at 1 1/8 miles on grass, the $300,000 Humana Distaff for fillies and mares 4-years-old and up at 7 furlongs, and the $300,000 La Troienne Presented by Spirited Funds, a 1 1/16-mile race for fillies and mares 4-years-old and up.

There will be seven Grade II events and 12 Grade IIIs races and one listed contest.

The addition of the two Arlington Park stakes races lifted total stakes purses to be offered during the upcoming meet to $8.84 million — an increase of $200,000 from the $8.64 million in stakes purses offered in the 2016 Spring Meet.

The $100,000 Kentucky Juvenile, a 5-furlong race for 2-year-olds on the main track, is the racing highlight of the “Thurby” celebration on Thursday, May 4. Also set for that program is the $65,000-added Opening Verse overnight stakes for 3-year-olds and up at a mile on turf.

The Oaks Day schedule also includes the La Troienne, the Grade II, $400,000 Alysheba for 3-year-olds and up at 1 1/16 miles, the Grade II, $200,000 Eight Belles for 3-year-old fillies at 7 furlongs, the Grade III, $150,000 Edgewood Presented by Forcht Bank for 3-year-old fillies at 1 1/16 miles on turf, and the Grade III $150,000 Twin Spires Turf Sprint for 3-year-olds and up at 5 furlongs on the grass.

The Derby program also features the Woodford Reserve Turf Classic and the Humana Distaff among a trio of Grade I attractions, including three Grade II races: the $500,000 Churchill Downs for 4-year-olds and up at 7 furlongs, the $300,000 Churchill Distaff Turf Mile Presented by Longines for fillies and mares ages 4 and up at 1 mile on turf, and the $300,000 American Turf Presented by Ram Trucks for 3-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles on the grass. The Derby Day schedule of seven stakes races is rounded out by the Grade III, $250,000 Pat Day Mile Presented by LG&E and KU, a race for 3-year-olds at a mile on dirt.

This story was originally published February 13, 2017 at 1:39 PM with the headline "Churchill Downs announces 2017 Spring Meet stakes schedule."