Graded stakes committee upgrades Ladies Turf Sprint to Grade 1 for 2026

The Ladies Turf Sprint at Kentucky Downs will be run as a Grade 1 for the first time in 2026, while the Franklin-Simpson Stakes for 3-year-old turf sprinters at the same venue and the Frank Kilroe Mile at Santa Anita will no longer be recognized as top-level races next year.

Those are three of a myriad of changes announced on Friday to the 2026 graded stakes list by the American graded stakes committee of the Kentucky-based Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association.

The Ladies Turf Sprint, run at 6 1/2 furlongs, had a purse of $2 million this year, which included $1 million exclusively for Kentucky-breds. The race was won for the second consecutive year by Ag Bullet, a Kentucky-bred who earned more than $1.15 million for her victory.

For 2026, the graded stakes committee has promoted 10 races at six venues from Grade 3 to Grade 2 status. Of those, seven are run at Kentucky tracks – the Shawnee and Unbridled Sidney at Churchill Downs; the Bryan Station, Doubledogdare, and Giant’s Causeway at Keeneland; and the Ladies Turf Stakes and Nashville Derby at Kentucky Downs. The Green Flash Handicap at Del Mar, Molly Pitcher Stakes at Monmouth Park, and Caress Stakes at Saratoga were also bumped to Grade 2 status.

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Four stakes, all at Kentucky tracks, were granted Grade 3 status after having previously been ungraded – the Hanshin and Maxfield at Churchill Downs, and the Indian Summer and Limestone at Keeneland. The committee boosted nine races to Listed status, one level below a Grade 3 – eight races at five Kentucky tracks and the Autumn Days Stakes in New York.

Overall, the committee reviewed 942 races worth $75,000 or more and gave graded stakes recognition to 410, five less than in 2025. An additional 211 races are rated as Listed.

The Franklin-Simpson Stakes, which had a purse of $2 million in 2025, including $1 million exclusively for Kentucky-breds, and the Frank Kilroe Mile, scheduled for March 7 with a purse of $300,000, were two of 13 stakes downgraded by the committee.

Five races were downgraded from Grade 2 to Grade 3 level - the Fort Marcy and Sands Point in New York, the Gulfstream Park Mile, and the Joe Hernandez and Santa Maria Stakes at Santa Anita.

Six races lost Grade 3 status for 2026 and are now noted as Listed races – the Red Carpet at Del Mar; the Pucker Up at Ellis Park; the Greenwood Cup at Parx Racing; and the Honeymoon, Las Virgenes, and Palos Verdes at Santa Anita Park.

The graded stakes committee has 11 members – Brant Laue, Bret Jones, Walker Hancock, Billy Koch, David O’Farrell, and Alex Solis II of TOBA; and five racing officials from across the nation – Gatewood Bell, Dan Bork, Andrew Offerman, Rick Hammerle, and Tora Yamaguchi.

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