Churchill Downs will honor Hall of Fame rider Pat Day with a race named in his honor during its 2015 Spring Meet, which spans 38 days from Saturday, Apr. 25 through Saturday, June 27.
A sextet of Grade I races highlights the nine-week stand, including the 141st runnings of the Kentucky Derby and Longines Kentucky Oaks. The two stalwarts anchor a 25-race stakes lineup that emphasizes big-event days cumulatively worth $8.05 million, a $375,000 increase or 5% jump from 2014.
The most significant change to the stakes menu involves the now former GIII Derby Trial, which has been moved from opening night to Kentucky Derby Day, renamed the Pat Day Mile and boosted by $50,000 from $150,000 to $200,000.
“There's no better way for Churchill Downs to show its appreciation and honor Pat Day–a legendary jockey, great ambassador of horse racing, pillar in the Louisville community and a man known for his devout faith–than to pay tribute with a race named in his honor on Kentucky Derby Day, America's greatest day of racing,” said Churchill Downs President Kevin Flanery.
Day added, “It's a tremendous honor to have a race at any time or any kind named in your honor– that's an honor in and of itself. But to have a race such as the Derby Trial moved to Kentucky Derby Day and have it renamed the Pat Day Mile is out of the park. That's just unbelievable.”
Of the schedule change, Ben Huffman, Churchill Downs Racetrack's Director of Racing and Racing Secretary, added, “We've been kicking around the idea of moving the Derby Trial to Kentucky DerbyDay for a couple of years now because the race is clearly not a significant step to the Derby anymore with the way horsemen train their horses today. We revere the storied history of the race, but ultimately feel that a one-turn mile race with familiar 3-year-olds that aren't up to the mile-and-a-quarter distance could prove to be very popular with both horsemen and fans alike on Kentucky Derby Day. We think this really bolsters an already substantial Derby Day card.”
The addition of the Pat Day Mile to Kentucky Derby Day means that seven graded stakes races cumulatively worth $4.05 million– the richest in the track's storied history–will help comprise the 13-race Derby Day card Saturday, May 2. The Oaks Day card features six stakes cumulatively worth a record $2.2 million.
The 34th running of the GI Stephen Foster H. will be the racing centerpiece of a “Downs After Dark” night racing program Saturday, June 13.
Click here for the complete stakes schedule.
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