Churchill Downs fall meet features 15 stakes, led by Clark

Photo: Mary M. Meek / Eclipse Sportswire

Thoroughbred racing in Kentucky shifts from Keeneland to Churchill Downs on Sunday as the home of the Kentucky Derby readies to open its 134th fall meet with an 11-race program, all for promising 2-year-old Thoroughbreds, at 1 p.m. EDT.

The 21-day stand covers a four-week stretch every Wednesday to Sunday through Nov. 26.

Click here for Churchill Downs entries.

The fall meet kicks off Sunday with the 19th annual "stars of tomorrow I" program, which is entirely devoted to hopeful 2-year-olds with aspirations of trail-blazing their way to next year’s Kentucky Derby and Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks.

Sunday’s 11-race opening day card is headlined by the 11th runnings of two 1 1/16-mile, $200,000 stakes – the open-company Street Sense (G3) and Rags to Riches for fillies. Those races serve as local steppingstones to the two Grade 2, $400,000, 1 1/16-mile counterparts on the Saturday, Nov. 25 “stars of tomorrow II” program, the open Kentucky Jockey Club and Golden Rod for fillies. Each race is a part of the road to the Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks series and awards 10- 5-3-2-1 points to the top 5 finishers.

For Sunday's opener, 143 juveniles, including 22 also-eligible runners, were entered, an average of 11 horses per race.

Moonlight, an Audible colt trained by Todd Pletcher who broke his maiden by eight lengths, is the 5-2 morning-line favorite in the Street Sense. Pocahontas (G3) winner and Alcibiades (G1) runner-up V V’s Dream, who also was pre-entered in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies to be run Nov. 3 at Santa Anita, is the 6-5 choice in the Pocahontas.

Horsemen will compete for $22.89 million offered in vice president of racing Ben Huffman’s fall meet condition book of 218 races, including a 15-race stakes schedule cumulatively worth $4.75 million.

Average daily purses are $1,090,000. Maiden special-weight races have a $120,000 purse, and allowance races range from $127,000 to $141,000. All purses, including claiming races, include prize money from the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund, pending Kentucky Horse Racing Commission approval.

Sunday’s card features $1,466,000 in prize money.

The stakes schedule is anchored by the $600,000 Clark (G1). The 1 1/8-mile test for 3-year-olds and up on Friday, Nov. 24, annually lures some of the top horses in North America and is the centerpiece of nine stakes races scheduled over Thanksgiving weekend.

Luis Saez had the hot hand during last year’s fall meet with 23 wins, two more than Tyler Gaffalione’s 21. Mike Maker led all trainers during the 2022 fall meet with 12 victories, one more than Steve Asmussen.

2023 Churchill Downs fall meet stakes schedule

 Date Purse Race Conditions Distance Surface
Sunday, Oct. 29$200,000Street Sense (G3)2yo1 1/16 MDirt
Sunday, Oct. 29$200,000Rags to Riches2yo f1 1/16 MDirt
Saturday, Nov. 4$300,000Bet On Sunshine3&up6 FDirt
Saturday, Nov. 11$300,000River City (G3)3&up1 1/8 MTurf
Saturday, Nov. 11$300,000Dream Supreme3&up, f&m6 FDirt
Saturday, Nov. 18$300,000Chilukki (G3)3&up, f&m1 MDirt
Thursday, Nov. 23$400,000Falls City (G3)3&up, f&m1 1/8 MDirt
Thursday, Nov. 23$300,000Cardinal (G3)3&up, f&m1 1/8 MTurf
Friday, Nov. 24$600,000Clark (G1)3&up1 1/8 MDirt
Friday, Nov. 24$300,000Mrs. Revere (G2)3yo f1 1/16 MTurf
Saturday, Nov. 25$400,000Kentucky Jockey Club (G2)2yo1 1/16 MDirt
Saturday, Nov. 25$400,000Golden Rod (G2)2yo f1 1/16 MDirt
Saturday, Nov. 25$225,000Ed Brown2yo6 1/2 FDirt
Saturday, Nov. 25$225,000Fern Creek2yo f6 1/2 FDirt
Sunday, Nov. 26$300,000Commonwealth Turf (G3)3yo1 1/16 MTurf

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