The 143rd runnings of the GI Kentucky Derby and the GI Kentucky Oaks May 6 and May 5, respectively, once again headline Churchill Downs' 38-day spring meeting, which offers a total of 34 stakes events worth $8.84 million, it was announced Monday. The meet will also welcome two graded stakes races previously contested at Churchill Downs Incorporated's Arlington Park that were otherwise in danger of being shelved for 2017–the May 20 GIII Matron S. and the June 24 GIII Chicago H.
The 2017 spring racing session will be launched by an “Opening Night” Saturday, Apr. 29, presented by Stella Artois and Old Forester, and will conclude with racing under the lights Friday, June 30.
The schedule is highlighted by three multi-stakes programs with total purses in excess of $1 million among nine racing programs that feature two or more stakes races. The Kentucky Derby heads a line-up of seven stakes events 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 Saturday, June 17, presented Stella Artois and El Jimador, features the GI Stephen Foster H., which headlines five stakes contests with total purses of $1.1 million.
“We're very pleased with the stakes schedule Churchill Downs has assembled for the 2017 Spring Meet and we hope our horsemen in Kentucky and throughout North America will share in our enthusiasm,” said Racing Secretary Ben Huffman. “Our racing programs for Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks Days continue to rank among the most lucrative in American racing, and our overall stakes program offers attractive options in almost every racing division. We're very happy to add a pair of stakes events from Arlington Park that would otherwise have gone on hiatus at our sister track and look forward to welcoming horsemen and owners from throughout the Midwest and beyond to compete in those races and all of the special events on our Spring Meet stakes schedule.”
The complete stakes lineup for the spring can be found here.
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