Arapahoe keeps Classic purse at $100,000

A pair of $100,000 stakes races for Thoroughbreds will again highlight the Arapahoe Park mixed meet that opens on May 24. The Aurora, Colo., track released its stakes schedule on Wednesday. The 39-date season will run on a Friday through Sunday basis through Aug. 17.

Arapahoe will bundle its most important stakes over its final two programs of the meet. The $100,000 Gold Rush Futurity for 2-year-olds at six furlongs Aug. 17 will share a card with the meet’s richest offering for Quarter Horses, the $130,000 Mile High Futurity. The $100,000 Arapahoe Park Classic, for 3-year-olds and up at a mile and an eighth, will lead a card of four stakes Aug. 16.

Last year, Arapahoe boosted the purse of the Classic from $50,000 to $100,000 late in the meet due to an 11 percent increase in handle. The track left the race at its new level for 2014.

Other top races this meet include the $40,000 Arapahoe Park Sprint for 3-year-olds and up at six furlongs June 1; the $40,000 Colorado Derby at a mile and a sixteenth July 13; and the $40,000 Columbine for fillies and mares at a mile and a sixteenth July 20.

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