Whether it’s the spring or the fall, the opening of the Keeneland meet always registers the arrival of the new season. The 17-day meet at the iconic racetrack in Lexington Ky. opens its fall meet Friday, Oct. 3 with live racing and special events through closing day, Saturday, Oct. 25.
The meet opens with its Fall Stars Weekend, which includes nine graded stakes races worth a total of $.3.6 million. Opening weekend is jam-packed with stakes action and some of the top horses currently competing, including two-time Horse of the Year, Wise Dan. He’ll run in Saturday’s Shadwell Turf Mile Stakes (G1).
In addition to a star-studded opening weekend of stakes action, fans will be witness to a new era of racing as racing begins on the newly-installed dirt track. Soon after the spring meet wrapped up, Keeneland replaced its synthetic Polytrack with a state-of-the-art dirt surface that is comprised of sand, silt and clay native to Kentucky, and includes a unique drainage system to collect and discharge water away from the track. Be prepared for a lot of new track records to be set as horses compete over the new surface for the first time.
Stakes Schedule:
The meet boasts 17 stakes races, eight of which are Breeders’ Cup Win & You’re In Challenge series races that guarantee the winners a berth in this year’s Breeders’ Cup (Oct. 31 and Nov. 1 at Santa Anita Park). Six of the meet’s stakes races are Grade 1 events.
Nine of the 17 stake races will run this weekend. Friday offers the $200,000 Stoll Keenon Ogden Phoenix Stakes (G3) for 3-year-olds and up going six furlongs and the $400,000 Darley Alcibiades (G1) for 2-year-old fillies going 1 1/16 miles. Both races are part of the Breeders’ Cup Challenge series.