Churchill Downs has scheduled 50 stakes races worth a record $26,175,000 for its 2025 Spring Meet, marking a $525,000 increase from the previous year. The 43-day racing calendar runs April 26-June 29.
The American Turf for 3-year-olds, traditionally featured on the Kentucky Derby undercard, has been elevated to Grade I status by the American Graded Stakes Committee, with its purse increasing to $1 million.
This prestigious turf race is one of four Spring Meet stakes receiving purse increases for 2025 and among seven races upgraded by the American Graded Stakes Committee of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association.
The 2025 stakes changes include:
- American Turf: Upgraded from Grade II to Grade I; purse increased from $600,000 to $1 million
- Aristides: Upgraded from Listed to Grade III status
- Chicago: Upgraded from Grade III to Grade II; purse increased from $250,000 to $300,000
- Chorleywood: Received Listed status; purse increased from $175,000 to $200,000
- Issac Murphy Marathon presented by Resolute Racing: Received Listed status
- Mamzelle: Upgraded from Listed to Grade III status
- Maxfield: Purse increased from $175,000 to $250,000
- Roxelana presented by LG&E: Received Listed status
Kentucky Derby Week (April 26-May 3) will feature 22 stakes races worth a record $17.9 million. Derby Day alone will showcase nine stakes totaling $11,150,000, while Oaks Day will present seven stakes worth $5.25 million.
Churchill Downs continues its partnership with Ascot Racecourse and Great Britain’s The Jockey Club for a “wild card” entry initiative connecting Kentucky Derby Week with the Betfred Derby Festival and Royal Ascot.
The American Turf winner will receive an entry and travel stipend to compete in the G1 Betfred Derby at Epsom on June 7 and the G1 St. James’s Palace at Royal Ascot on June 17. Similarly, the Edgewood winner on Kentucky Oaks Day will receive the same benefits for the G1 Betfred Oaks at Epsom on June 6 and the Group 1 Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot on June 20.
Winners of the GI Old Forester Bourbon Turf Classic will earn a berth to either the G1 Queen Anne Stakes or the G1 Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot, while the Twin Spires Turf Sprint winner receives an entry to the G1 King’s Charles III Stakes.
In reciprocation, runners from both the Queen Anne and Prince of Wales’s will receive entry and travel incentives to compete in the GI Arlington Million at Colonial Downs in mid-August. A runner from the G1 Tattersales Falmouth Stakes will receive similar benefits for the GII Beverly D Stakes on the Arlington Million undercard.
Additional Spring Meet highlights include Stephen Foster Preview Day on Saturday, May 31; Stephen Foster Day on Saturday, June 28; and five closing day stakes on Sunday, June 29.
The Churchill Downs stable area, following its annual wintertime renovation closure, will reopen Tuesday, March 18. Training on the main dirt track begins Wednesday, March 19.
