Churchill Downs Sets Upcoming Stakes

Stakes schedules with combined purses of more than $3.2 million were announced July 27 by Churchill Downs for the Kentucky track's upcoming 2016 meets.

The "September" meet, which spans 11 days from Sept. 16-Oct. 2, will offer $1.25 million in stakes purses. The 21-day fall meet, which runs from Oct. 30-Nov. 27, will pay $2.08 million in stakes purses.

There will be nine stakes for the first meet, including the return after a one-year absence of the $100,000 President of UAE Cup Sponsored by the Abu Dhabi Sports Council, a 1 1/4-mile race for Arabian horses.

The opening Saturday of the September meet is highlighted by the $150,000 Iroquois Stakes (gr. III) for 2-year-olds and the $200,000 Pocahontas Stakes (gr. II) for 2-year-old fillies. The two 1 1/16-mile races open the respective "Road to the Kentucky Derby" and "Road to the Kentucky Oaks" series that will determine the participants in the respective 2017 Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands and Longines Kentucky Oaks (both gr. I).

The Iroquois and Pocahontas are Breeders' Cup Challenge "Win and You're In" events for the Sentient Jet Breeders' Cup Juvenile and 14 Hands Winery Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (both gr. I).

The meet's stakes schedule will conclude Oct. 1 with three stakes headed by the $175,000 Lukas Classic for 3-year-olds and up, a listed 1 1/8-mile race designed as a prep for the Breeders' Cup Classic (gr. I).

The fall meet will feature 13 stakes and four overnight stakes. The highlights are Nov. 25-27 on Thanksgiving Day weekend.

The $500,000 Clark Handicap Presented by Norton Healthcare (gr. I) for 3-year-olds and up is set for Nov. 26, while the $200,000 Falls City Handicap (gr. II) for fillies and mares will be run Thanksgiving Day. The Nov. 27 card is the "Stars of Tomorrow II" program for 2-year-olds, which is headed by two grade II stakes: the $200,000 Kentucky Jockey Club for 2-year-olds and the $200,000 Golden Rod for 2-year-old fillies.

The $200,000 Mrs. Revere Stakes (gr. IIT), the last graded stakes event of the year exclusively for 3-year-old fillies on turf, will be run Nov. 26.

The fall meet begins with a "Stars of Tomorrow I" card with two $70,000 stakes, the Street Sense and Rags to Riches, each of which will be run at one-mile on the main track with the latter limited to fillies.

Winners of four of September meet stakes will earn automatic nominations to fall meet stakes. The first-place finishers in the Pocahontas and Iroquois will be nominated, respectively, to the Golden Rod and Kentucky Jockey Club. The Lukas Classic victor will automatically be nominated to the Clark Handicap, and the winner of $100,000 Locust Grove Stakes (gr. III) will earn a free nomination to the Falls City Handicap.