Saratoga Derby Big Mover in New Graded Stakes Listings

In its first year of eligibility to receive a grade, the Saratoga Derby Invitational Stakes (G1T) will make a splash as a top-level race in 2021.

The Saratoga Derby at Saratoga Race Course is the lone race to be upgraded to grade 1 status in the listing of graded and listed stakes races for 2021 in the United States unveiled Dec. 18 by the American Graded Stakes Committee of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association.

The Saratoga Derby was added to the New York Racing Association schedule in 2019 as the middle leg of the racing association's "Turf Trinity" for 3-year-olds racing on the grass. It typically will be bookended by a pair of races at Belmont Park: the Belmont Derby Invitational Stakes (G1T) and the Jockey Club Derby. 

In 2020 the Jockey Club Derby, also launched in 2019, was not contested and the Belmont Derby was moved to October. Assuming the Jockey Club Derby is returned to the schedule in 2021, it would be eligible for a grade in 2022 as races need to be run at least two years before being considered.

The Saratoga Derby's sister race, the Saratoga Oaks Invitational Stakes (G3T), also received a grade for 2021 although at grade 3 it didn't fare as well as the Saratoga Derby. The Saratoga Oaks also was launched in 2019 as NYRA unveiled its "Turf Tiara" for sophomore fillies on the grass.

Like the turf series for 3-year-old males, the Turf Tiara also saw changes in 2020 for the typical schedule of the Belmont Oaks Invitational (G1T), Saratoga Oaks, and Jockey Club Oaks. Mirroring the changes to the male turf series, the Jockey Club Oaks was dropped in 2020 and the Saratoga Oaks was run first, followed by the Belmont Oaks. It's hoped the series will return to its regular schedule in 2021, which would make the Jockey Club Oaks eligible for a grade in 2022.

In releasing its grades for 2022, the committee noted that it took care to consider any pandemic-related circumstances that might have affected races in 2020—positively or negatively. With that in mind, there were not too many dramatic changes announced by the AGSC.

The committee reviewed 849 U.S. stakes races that offer a purse of at least $75,000 and assigned graded status to 445 of them, three fewer than were graded in 2020, and listed status to 193 races. Three graded races were upgraded. Besides the new grade 1 Saratoga Derby, four new grade 3 races were named and 12 new listed races were upgraded from non-listed black-type status. Fifteen races that carried graded or listed status in 2020 are no longer eligible for grading.

No races were downgraded from grade I to grade 2 for 2021.

(In the listed changes that follow, all races are stakes unless noted as a handicap.)

Three races were upgraded to grade 2 status for 2021: the Red Smith at Aqueduct Racetrack and Franklin-Simpson and Kentucky Turf Cup at Kentucky Downs.

Three races were downgraded from grade 2 to grade 3 in 2021: the Knickerbocker at Belmont Park and Palos Verdes and Las Virgenes at Santa Anita Park.

Four races were upgraded to grade 3 status for 2021: the Gulfstream Park Turf Sprint at Gulfstream Park; Tourist Mile at Kentucky Downs; and the Caress and Saratoga Oaks Invitational at Saratoga.

Five races were downgraded from grade 3 to listed status for 2021: the Discovery at Aqueduct; Palm Beach and Rampart at Gulfstream Park; Red Bank at Monmouth Park; and Senator Ken Maddy at Santa Anita Park.

Twelve races were upgraded to listed status for 2021: the CTT and TOC at Del Mar; Kentucky Downs Preview Ladies Turf and Kentucky Downs Preview Tourist Mile at Ellis Park; Pago Hop and Tom Benson Memorial at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots; Dueling Grounds Oaks at Kentucky Downs; Oaklawn Mile and Oaklawn at Oaklawn Park; Desert Code at Santa Anita Park; Mahony at Saratoga; Suncoast at Tampa Bay Downs; and Kentucky Cup Classic at Turfway Park.

Five races were downgraded from listed to non-listed black-type status for 2021: the Correction at Aqueduct; Delta Mile at Delta Downs; Azalea at Gulfstream Park; Dixie Belle at Oaklawn Park; and John Battaglia Memorial at Turfway Park.

The Arlington Classic, Arlington Matron, and Stars and Stripes at Arlington International Race Course; the C.E.R.F. S., Daisycutter Handicap, Osunitas, and Wickerr at Del Mar; Skip Away at Gulfstream Park; Maxxam Gold Cup at Sam Houston Race Park; Lone Star Park Handicap at Lone Star Park; Iowa Distaff and Saylorville at Prairie Meadows; and Adoration, Black Pearl, and Midnight Lute at Santa Anita Park were not eligible for grading in 2021.