Stakes Fields Capped at 12 for Keeneland Spring Meet

After a successful test run of capped 12-horse fields for stakes races on the turf during the Keeneland fall meet, the Lexington track will expand the policy to all stakes—dirt and turf—for the 2023 spring meet, which begins April 7.

"Last year we were just coming up with different ways to limit our turf course as much as we could before the Breeders' Cup, so we added the new turf lane and then we made the decision to take the maximum field size down to 12 with four AE's (also-eligibles)," Keeneland's vice president of racing Gatewood Bell said. "That was where it started and we liked the way it worked out in the fall."

Every race in the condition book that is not a stakes race has already had a field exclusive to 12. Last fall, Keeneland's big juvenile stakes on dirt, the Alcibiades (G1) for fillies and Breeders' Futurity (G1), each saw 14 starters.

Bell believes by limiting stakes fields to 12 horses, more owners and trainers will be inclined to run their horses off the also-eligible list if there is a scratch. That is because the widest spot they'd be looking at is the post-12 slot, instead of a potential 14-hole. He explained that horses were often scratched in the past when landing in such a wide position, with the connections choosing to find a different spot for their horses instead of breaking from the far outer post (14). By capping the field, connections that can draw in would be looking at a better post. 

"We're trying to balance a quality field in the safest manner," Bell said. "You're sacrificing those two horses that don't get in but hopefully it makes for a safer and more competitive race, as fair as a horse race can be."