Two stakes cut from 2005 schedule
CHICAGO - Arlington Park's 2005 stakes schedule, looking very much like 2004's, was approved Tuesday by the Illinois Racing Board.
The 2005 stakes program, however, eliminates two $75,000 stakes that were run in 2004: the Estrapade, for older turf females, run June 12 last year; and the Black Tie Affair, run July 10 in 2004 as a prep for the Washington Park Handicap. With the Estrapade gone, Arlington runs just one stakes race between its May 13 opening and June 18.
The Washington Park was one of four stakes reduced by $50,000 this season. The others are the Arlington Oaks, the Arlington Classic, and the Arlington Handicap. The $50,000 in Breeders' Cup purse money allotted to the Oaks was shifted to the Sept. 18 Arlington-Washington Lassie, which now is worth $150,000.
Arlington faces a tighter purse structure in 2005 because the Illinois Racing Board shifted purse money earned from simulcast handle during Chicago's winter dark period from Arlington to Hawthorne.
The program features three multi-stakes days, a hallmark of Arlington's parent company, Churchill Downs Inc. There are six Illinois-bred stakes June 25; three stakes on Million Preview Day, July 23; and the three Grade 1 turf stakes on Arlington Million Day, Aug. 13.
2005 Arlington Park schedule
| DATE | EVENT | CONDITIONS | DISTANCE | PURSE |
| Sat.,May 28 | Hanshin Cup (G3) | 3YO & Up | 1 Mile | $100,000 |
| Sat.,June 18 | Chicago BC Handicap (G3) | F&M, 3YO & Up | 7 Furlongs | 175,000 |
| Sat.,June 25 | Purple Violet Stakes | 3YO, F* | 1 Mile | 75,000 |
| Sat.,June 25 | Springfield Stakes | 3YO* | 1 Mile | 75,000 |
| Sat.,June 25 | Isaac Murphy Handicap | F&M, 3YO & Up* | 6 Furlongs | 75,000 |
| Sat.,June 25 | White Oak Handicap | 3YO & Up* | 6 Furlongs | 75,000 |
| Sat.,June 25 | Lincoln Heritage Hcp. | F&M, 3YO & Up* | 1 1/16 Miles (T) | 75,000 |
| Sat.,June 25 | Black Tie Affair Handicap | 3YO & Up* | 1 1/16 Miles (T) | 75,000 |
| Sat.,July 2 | Arlington Classic (G3) | 3YO | 1 1/16 Miles (T) | 150,000 |
| Sun., July 3 | Stars and Stripes BC Turf (G3) | 3YO & Up | 1 1/2 Miles (T) | 200,000 |
| Sat.,July 16 | Round Table Stakes | 3YO | 1 1/8 miles | 100,000 |
| Sat.,July 23 | American Derby (G2) | 3YO | 1 3/16 Miles (T) | 250,000 |
| Sat.,July 23 | Arlington Handicap (G3) | 3YO & Up | 1 1/4 Miles (T) | 200,000 |
| Sat.,July 23 | Modesty Handicap (G3) | F&M, 3YO & Up | 1 3/16 Miles (T) | 150,000 |
| Sat.,July 30 | Washington Park Hcp. (G2) | 3YO & Up | 1 3/16 Miles | 300,000 |
| Sat.,Aug. 6 | Sea O'Erin BC Mile | 3YO & Up | 1 Mile (T) | 150,000 |
| Sat.,Aug. 13 | Secretariat Stakes (G1) | 3YO | 1 1/4 Miles (T) | 400,000 |
| Sat.,Aug. 13 | Beverly D. (G1) | F&M, 3YO & Up | 1 3/16 Miles (T) | 750,000 |
| Sat.,Aug. 13 | Arlington Million (G1) | 3YO & Up | 1 1/4 Miles (T) | 1,000,000 |
| Sat.,Aug. 20 | Arlington Oaks | 3YO, F | 1 1/8 Miles | 100,000 |
| Sat.,Aug. 27 | Arlington BC Sprint | 3YO & Up | 6 Furlongs | 150,000 |
| Sat.,Sept. 3 | Arlington Matron Hcp. (G3) | F&M, 3YO & Up | 1 1/8 Miles | 150,000 |
| Sat.,Sept. 17 | Pucker Up Stakes (G3) | 3YO, F | 1 1/8 Miles (T) | 200,000 |
| Sun., Sept. 18 | Arlington-Wash. BC Lassie (G3) | 2YO, F | 1 Mile | 150,000 |
| Sun., Sept. 18 | Arlington-Wash. BC Futurity (G3) | 2YO | 1 Mile | 200,000 |
* Illinois-registered