Prairie Meadows Releases 2023 Stakes Schedule

Prairie Meadows announced Feb. 20 the release of its first condition book with a Quarter Horse preview section, stakes schedules for Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse breeds, and additional information for owners, trainers, jockeys, and industry participants planning to race in Iowa.

Prairie Meadows' 2023 live racing season will begin May 12 and will conclude Sept. 30. The final race day of the season will feature the Iowa Classic event with an all Iowa-bred race card. A total of 80 racing days will be scheduled with both Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse racing offered. The season begins with 20 days of Thoroughbred-only racing from May 12-June 17 and continues with a mixed Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse schedule of 60 race days from June 18-Sept. 30.

Live racing will be offered on a Friday-Monday schedule except for opening week of racing that will feature racing May 12-13 only. Standard post times for Friday and Saturday programs will be 6 p.m., while post times for Sunday and Monday programs will begin at 4 p.m. As of release date of this communication, the only post time exception is Sept. 30, with a special post time of 4 p.m. for the Iowa Classic.

Prairie Meadows Condition Book No. 1 is now available online and features the first 14 days of racing for Thoroughbreds only along with a preview section starting on page 66 for Quarter Horses with the first 10 days of racing from June 18-July 3.

"Overnight purses on the Thoroughbred side have been increased by $1,000 across the board for the upcoming 2023 season," said Quarter Horse racing secretary Chad Keller. "The Quarter Horse purse structure for the most part remains similar to last year with minor adjustments, however we should reach nearly $13,000 for an average open overnight purse in 2023, our highest level since 2008."

Stakes schedules for both breeds have also been released for 2023.

"The Thoroughbred stakes schedule will follow a similar format to last year with the only change being four Iowa-bred stakes receiving purse increases from $65,000 to $75,000," Keller said. "The Quarter Horse stakes schedule has a few minor changes for 2023. We have dropped the Prairie Sprint stakes race and moved the Keokuk and Prairie Dash to different times on the schedule. We've also reallocated monies to a few stakes, shortened the Two Rivers distance to 400 yards, and added a few more days between trial and final dates for 400-yard Derbies."