Fayette Stakes to be run earlier in Keeneland meet

The stakes schedule for the Keeneland fall meet was released Wednesday, with the repositioning of the Fayette Stakes to serve as a prep for the Breeders’ Cup, which will be held for the second time at the Lexington, Ky., track on Nov. 6-7.

Keeneland will run a 17-day meet from Oct. 2-24, with its most important stakes, as usual, being held early in the meet. Ten stakes will be run as Breeders’ Cup Win and You’re In events during the first few days of the meet, including the Alcibiades, Shadwell Turf Mile, First Lady, Breeders’ Futurity, and Spinster, all Grade 1 races.

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The Grade 2 Fayette has been the closing-day feature for years but will be run as a BC Classic prep on the second Saturday of the meet, Oct. 10, on the same card as the sixth and final Grade 1, the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup. In all, 18 stakes worth more than $4.7 million are on the fall schedule.

No announcement has been made regarding whether fans will be able to attend the meet. Only essential personnel and horse owners were allowed to attend when Keeneland ran a five-day July meet to replace an April spring meet that was canceled because of the ongoing global pandemic.