Bourbon Stakes

The Bourbon Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually during the first part of October at the Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Kentucky. Contested on turf at a distance of  1 ¹⁄₁₆ miles (8.5 furlongs), it is open to two-year-old horses. Elevated to Grade III status for 2008, the race currently offers a current purse of $250,000.^[1]

The race is part of the Breeders' Cup Challenge series. The winner of the Bourbon Stakes receives a "Win and You're In" berth in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf.^[2]

Inaugurated in 1991 as the Hopemont Stakes, the name was changed in 2003 to the Bourbon County Stakes – Bourbon County is near Lexington and is home to many famous Throroughbred farms. From 2005 to 2008, it was run as the Woodford Reserve Bourbon Stakes, then simply the Bourbon Stakes. Since 2014, the race has been sponsored by Dixiana Farm.^[3]

In 2006 and 2013, the race was switched from turf to the main track due to weather conditions. It was run in two divisions in 1998.^[1]

Records

Speed record:

• 1:42.42 - Gateman (1999)

Most wins by an owner

• 2 - Klaravich Stables & W. H. Lawrence (2011, 2012)
• 2 - John C. Oxley (2000, 2015)

Most wins by a jockey

• 3 - Pat Day (1991, 1998, 1999)
• 3 - Craig Perret (1996, 1997, 2004)
• 3 - Julien R. Leparoux (2010, 2012, 2015)

Most wins by a trainer

• 3 - Todd A. Pletcher (2006, 2008, 2009)
• 3 - Kenneth G. McPeek (1998, 2010, 2014)
• 2 - Peter M. Vestal (1996, 1997)
• 2 - Hal R. Wiggins (1998, 2002)
• 2 - W. Elliott Walden (1999, 2001)
• 2 - Mark Casse (2015, 2016)

Winners

References