Highlander, Summer become Grade 1 stakes

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - A pair of Woodbine turf stakes, the Highlander Stakes and the Summer Stakes, have been upgraded to Grade 1 status for the 2018 season by the Jockey Club of Canada.

The Highlander Stakes, a six-furlong sprint for 3-year-olds and upward that typically is run as part of the Queen’s Plate undercard, and the Summer Stakes, a one-turn mile for 2-year-olds, were both Grade 2 events last season. Last season, the Highlander offered a fees-paid berths into the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint, and the Summer to the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf.

Two other Woodbine stakes were also upgraded: the Royal North Stakes and the Trillium Stakes. The Royal North, a six-furlong sprint on turf for fillies and mares, was upgraded to Grade 2 status, while the Trillium Stakes, which was previously a listed stakes, has been upgraded to Grade 3 status. The Trillium Stakes is for fillies and mares and is contested over 1 1/16 miles on Tapeta.

With the upgrade of the Trillium, there will be 45 graded stakes races run in Canada in 2018, as no other changes were made to the status of other graded stakes. A total of 41 graded stakes will be run at Woodbine, with three graded stakes to be run at Hastings Racecourse in Vancouver, and one graded stakes race to be run at Northlands Park in Edmonton.

There will now be seven Grade 1 races contested in Canada, all of which will take place at Woodbine. Along with the Highlander and Summer Stakes, the Grade 1 races to be run at Woodbine are the Canadian International, Woodbine Mile, Northern Dancer Turf Stakes, E. P. Taylor Stakes, and Natalma Stakes.

The only stakes race that was downgraded was the Speed to Spare Stakes at Northlands Park, which had been a listed stakes.