Keeneland fall schedule includes 23 stakes

Keeneland’s usually power-packed fall stakes schedule takes on even more importance this year when the track presents 23 stakes in anticipation of the first Breeders’ Cup held at the Lexington track on Oct. 30 and 31.

A significant number of this year’s fall stakes, which will be worth just more than $5 million, will be important track and course preps for the 13 Breeders’ Cup events. As usual, the stakes are front-loaded, with the most important events packaged as part of the Fall Stars Weekend, beginning with opening day, Oct. 2, through Sunday, Oct. 4. Preps for nine of the 13 Breeders’ Cup races will be held on those three days. Five of those races are Grade 1, including the Alcibiades, a prep for the Juvenile Fillies, on Oct. 2; the Shadwell Mile (Turf Mile), Breeders’ Futurity (Juvenile), and First Lady (Filly and Mare Turf) on Oct. 3; and the Spinster (Distaff) on Oct. 4. Additionally, the Phoenix (Sprint), Thoroughbred Club of America (Filly and Mare Sprint), Woodford (Turf Sprint), and Bourbon (Juvenile Turf) will serve as Breeders’ Cup preps on Fall Stars Weekend.

The Jessamine Stakes, a prep for the Juvenile Fillies Turf, will be run the following Wednesday, Oct. 7. The Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup for 3-year-old fillies, on Oct. 10, is the sixth Grade 1 at the meeting and occasionally draws a starter for the Filly and Mare Turf or Turf Mile.

The only Breeders’ Cup races without a natural prep at the meet are the Classic, Dirt Mile, and the Turf, though the Oct. 15 Sycamore, while just 16 days out from the race, could serve as a prep for the Turf.

There are three additional stakes scheduled for each of the two Breeders’ Cup days, including the Grade 2, $200,000 Marathon on the Oct. 30 program.