Keeneland announces record $8.05 million spring stakes schedule
The 19 stakes scheduled to be run at the Keeneland spring meet in April this year will have record total purses of $8.05 million, including money available only to Kentucky-bred horses, the track announced Friday.
Two Grade 1 stakes had their purses boosted by $100,000 each, the April 8 Madison Stakes and the April 15 Jenny Wiley Stakes, according to Keeneland. The two races, which are both for older females, will have purses of $600,000 each this year.
In addition, three listed stakes – the Limestone, Giant’s Causeway, and Palisades – had their purses raised by $50,000 each, with each now being worth $250,000.
The purse totals include money that can only be earned by Kentucky-breds through the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund. Keeneland said in its press release that the total KTDF money available in the stakes races will be $1.5 million.
The meet runs from April 7-28, with a dark day for Easter, on April 9.
The most stakes-heavy card will be April 8, when the $1 million Blue Grass Stakes, a major Derby prep, will anchor a lineup with four other graded stakes races, including the Grade 1 Madison, the Grade 2 Appalachian, the Grade 2 Shakertown, and the Grade 3 Commonwealth.
The Grade 1 Maker’s Mark Mile is scheduled for Friday, April 14. The Lexington Stakes, which is the final stakes race on the calendar in which a horse can earn qualifying points to the Kentucky Derby, is scheduled for April 15, three weeks before the Derby on May 6.
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