Keeneland will be the center of the Thoroughbred racing world this fall as the historic track embarks upon an unprecedented Fall Meet, to be held Oct. 2-24, which will climax at month’s end with a special day of racing, Prelude to the Cup on Oct. 29, followed by the $26 million Breeders’ Cup World Championships on Oct. 30-31.
The 17-day Fall Meet features 16 stakes races worth a total of $5,075,000 in purse money, led by the $1 million Shadwell Turf Mile (G1) on Oct. 3.
The Fall Meet breaks from the starting gate on Friday, Oct. 2, with Fall Stars Weekend, three days of racing which will showcase many Breeders’ Cup-bound stars.
Nine graded stakes races worth $3.7 million, including seven Breeders’ Cup “Win and You’re In” races, where the winner earns an automatic berth into Breeders’ Cup, kick off the 17-day meet.
“This is a monumental time for Keeneland nearly 80 years in the making,” Keeneland President and CEO Bill Thomason said. “We are thrilled to welcome the Thoroughbred racing world and its fans for a historic month of racing and activities that will showcase not only Keeneland but the entire Central Kentucky community.”
Magdalena Racing’s undefeated Dothraki Queen, winner of the Pocahontas (G2) at Churchill Downs in her most recent start, heads a field of 11 2-year-old fillies entered Tuesday for Friday’s 64th running of the $400,000 Darley Alcibiades (G1).
The Darley Alcibiades is a “Win and You’re In” race for the $2 million 14 Hands Winery Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) to be run here Oct. 31. Post time for the Darley Alcibiades, which goes as the ninth race of the afternoon is 5:30 p.m. First post is 1:05 p.m.
Trained by three-time Darley Alcibiades winner Kenny McPeek, Dothraki Queen secured a spot in the gate for the Breeders’ Cup by virtue of her victory in the Pocahontas. Corey Lanerie retains the mount on the daughter of Pure Prize and will exit post position nine.
McPeek’s Darley Alcibiades winners are She’s A Devil Due (2000), Take Charge Lady (2001) and Dream Empress (2008).
The other Grade 2 winner who passed the entry box Tuesday is Winchell Thoroughbreds’ homebred Just Wicked.
The beaten favorite in the Pocahontas, Just Wicked has won two of four starts with her stakes triumph coming in the 6½-furlong Adirondack (G2) at Saratoga. Trained by Steve Asmussen, the Tapit filly will be ridden by Jose Ortiz and break from post position 11.
The field for the Darley Alcibiades, with riders, from the rail out is as follows: Gomo (Mario Gutierrez), Marquee Miss (Florent Geroux), Put Da Blame On Me (Robby Albarado), Decked Out (Kent Desormeaux), Ma Can Do It (Paco Lopez), Little Cherie (Luis Saez), Dream Dance (Brian Hernandez Jr.), Lookout Sister (John Velazquez), Dothraki Queen (Lanerie), Princess Kennedy (Joe Johnson) and Just Wicked (Ortiz). All starters will carry 118 pounds.
Five days after the Fall Meet concludes, racing resumes Thursday, Oct. 29, for Prelude to the Cup, a special nine-race card on the eve of the Breeders’ Cup that will feature the $100,000 Lafayette Presented by Keeneland Select, for 3-year-olds and up at 7 furlongs.
Keeneland welcomes the world when it hosts, for the first time in its illustrious history, the Breeders’ Cup on Oct. 30-31. Held over two days, the Breeders’ Cup encompasses 13 Grade 1 races worth more than $26 million in prize money and awards.
Racing’s national and international human and equine stars will be on hand for the Breeders’ Cup, which is highlighted by the $2 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1) on Friday, Oct. 30, and the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1), the richest Thoroughbred race in North America, on Saturday, Oct. 31.
From Keeneland Communications