Keeneland Fall Meet to feature 22 stakes

This year’s Keeneland Fall Meet in Lexington, Ky., will feature 22 stakes with total purses of $10.7 million, with half of those stakes scheduled for opening weekend on Oct. 2-4, the track said on Wednesday.

The 17-day fall meet, running from Oct. 2-Oct. 25, will precede the two-day Breeders’ Cup event at Keeneland on Oct. 30-31. The opening weekend stakes will include eight races that guarantee berths to one of the 14 Breeders’ Cup races.

The Oct. 2 card will include two races for 2-year-old fillies, the Alcibiades on dirt and the Jessamine on turf. Both are “win and you’re in” races, along with the Phoenix Stakes, a qualifying race for the Breeders’ Cup Sprint.

The Oct. 3 card will include the $1.25 million Turf Mile for a spot in the Breeders’ Cup Mile, the $650,000 Breeders’ Futurity for a spot in the Juvenile, and the Thoroughbred Club of America for a spot in the Filly and Mare Sprint, along with three other graded stakes.

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The Oct. 4 card will feature the $650,000 Spinster for a spot in the Distaff and the $400,000 Bourbon for a spot in the Juvenile Turf.

One of the most popular stakes of the meet, the $750,000 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes for 3-year-old fillies, will be held on Oct. 10.

The 2026 fall meet will mark the 90th anniversary of the track’s opening.

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