Ellis Park meet adds four stakes
?q=100)
Ellis Park will run 18 stakes worth a total of $3.075 million during its meet that runs from July 7 through Aug. 27, the Henderson, Ky., track announced Friday.
The stakes schedule, which includes funds distributed by the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund and is pending approval from the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, is up $1.65 million from last year.
There are four stakes planned for this year that were not held in 2022 at Ellis, which is preparing for its first meet under the auspices of Churchill Downs Inc., which completed its purchase of the track in September.
The richest of the stakes additions is the Grade 3, $300,000 Pucker Up for 3-year-old fillies on the turf, which will be the lone graded race on the Ellis calendar. The race was formerly run at Arlington Park, which CDI closed following the 2021 season. It was scheduled to be run at Churchill Downs last August, but was ultimately not run due to turf conditions.
The $250,000 Kentucky Downs Preview Turf Cup, $200,000 Kentucky Downs Preview Dueling Grounds Derby, and $125,000 Twin Bridges are the other three stakes additions. The Preview Turf Cup and Preview Dueling Grounds Derby were both run in 2021, but not last year.
The additions give Ellis a total of seven stakes during Kentucky Downs Preview Weekend on Aug. 5 and 6. The stakes link Ellis Park to the lucrative Kentucky Downs meeting the following month in Franklin, Ky., Winners of the Ellis stakes earn automatic berths into corresponding races at Kentucky Downs.
Another major weekend for Ellis Park comes the following weekend, with six stakes on Aug. 13, highlighted by the $250,000 Ellis Park Derby.
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.