Keeneland Announces Stakes-Rich Fall Meet

Keeneland announced its fall race schedule on Thursday, and the 17-day meeting will feature 19 stakes worth $4,675,000. The meet, which will run from Oct. 8-30, will have an average daily purse of about $600,000, making their purse structure among the highest in North America.

The first three days of the meeting will again be featured as the "Fallstars Weekend" with seven graded stakes that serve as stepping stones to the Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships to be held on Saturday, Oct. 30 at Lone Star Park.

"Fallstars Weekend has become three of the best consecutive days of racing you'll find anywhere," said Keeneland's director of racing Rogers Beasley. "They are important in their own right, yet they also are important preps for the Breeders' Cup."

Twelve of the 19 stakes scheduled during the meeting are graded. Eleven will be run on the turf. Fourteen of the 17 days will have at least one stakes race. Three stakes will have increased purses, including two whose graded status was elevated this year by the American Graded Stakes Committee.

The Lane's End Breeders' Futurity was made a grade I event and its purse was increased $100,000 to $500,000. The Raven Run Stakes was elevated from a gr. III to a gr. II and its purse was increased $50,000 to $200,000. The purse for the Storm Cat Stakes was increased to $100,000 from $75,000.

Three of Keeneland's four grade I stakes will be run during "Fallstars Weekend" on Oct. 9-10: the Shadwell Turf Mile, the Lane's End Futurity, and the the Overbrook Spinster.

Keeneland's fourth grade I race of the fall, the $500,000 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup, is set for Saturday, Oct. 16. The invitational race for 3-year-old fillies is run at 1 1/8 miles on the turf.

Three stakes will be televised nationally. The Lane's End Breeders' Futurity and Shadwell Turf Mile will be shown live on ESPN2 on Oct. 9. The Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup will air live on ESPN2 on Oct. 16.

Keeneland's 2004 fall stakes schedule

10/8: Darley Alcibiades (gr .II), $400,000, 2yo fillies, 1 1/16 miles (closes 9/29)
Phoenix Breeders' Cup (gr. III), $250,000, 3yo and up, six furlongs (9/29)
10/9: Shadwell Turf Mile (gr. IT), $600,000, 3yo and up, one mile (turf), (9/29)
Lane's End Breeders' Futurity (gr. I), $500,000, 2yo, 1 1/16 miles, (9/29)
Sycamore Breeders' Cup (gr. IIIT), $150,000, 3yo and up, 1 1/2 miles, turf (9/29)
10/10: Overbrook Spinster (gr. I), $500,000, 3yo and up, fillies and mares, 1 1/8 miles (9/29)
WinStar Galaxy (gr. IIT), $500,000, 3yo and up, fillies and mares, 1 3/16 miles (turf), (9/29)
Storm Cat Stakes, 3yo and up, one mile (turf), (9/29)
10/14: Perryville Stakes (presented by Budweiser), $100,000, 3yo c&g, seven furlongs, 184 feet, (10/6)
10/15: Raven Run Stakes (gr. II), $200,000, 3yo fillies, seven furlongs, (10/6)
10/16: Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup (gr. IT), $500,000, 3yo fillies, 1 1/8 miles (by invitation)
10/17: Thoroughbred Club of America Stakes (gr. III), $125,000, 3yo and up, fillies and mares, six furlongs (10/6)
10/21: Clark County Stakes, $75,000, 3yo and up, fillies and mares, 5 1/2 furlongs (turf), (10/13)
10/22: Woodford County Stakes, $75,000, 3yo and up, 5 1/2 furlongs (turf), (10/13)
10/23: Valley View Stakes (gr. IIIT), $100,000, 3yo fillies, 1 1/16 miles (turf), (10/13)
10/24: Rood and Riddle Dowager, $150,000, 3yo and up, fillies and mares, 1 1/2 miles (turf), (10/13)
10/28: Jessamine County Stakes, $100,000, 2yo fillies, 1 1/16 miles (turf), (10/20)
10/29: Bourbon County Stakes, $100,000, 2yo, 1 1/16 miles (turf), (10/20)
10/30: Fayette Stakes (gr. III), $150,000, 3yo and up, 1 1/8 miles, (10/20)