As November wrapped there was a special meeting in the Horse Capital of the World. A select group, belonging to the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association met in Lexington, KY. These members are on the American Graded Stakes Committee. They were tasked with the annual selection process of grading stakes races in the United States. After a delicate 2 day process that looked at over 800 stakes races the committee determined 455 worthy stakes for 2018. Did your favorite track and races meet their standards?
The American Graded Stakes Committee was founded in 1973 as part of T.O.B.A., which got its start in 1961. The goal of the committee is to identify U.S. races that historically continue to carry the highest quality competition. These races must meet uniform criteria. These requirements carry a minimal purse of $75 thousand dollars, proper drug testing protocol, use of only approved medications, longevity of similar conditions and bloodstock divisions with attention to restrictions applying to age and gender, the absence of changes in track surface and track management and other quality assurance measures and factors. The data was reviewed looking at the past 5 years of information for each race and these races were sorted into 14 divisions. They also looked at the points assigned in each race, the quality of those points, the numbers of graded stakes winners in each field, the history of the horses leading 24 months in and out of each race, data particular to each race and ratings from other official Thoroughbred organizations (North American Rating Committee and Thorough-Graphics) as well as their own professional judgement. All of these things are reviewed to assure the best horses are running in the best races. In addition to the 455 stakes identified for 2018 the committee established another 177 races to be of listed status.
Overall , no track gained a Grade 1 race. However, 1 track had a stakes that was downgraded from a G1 to a G2. 8 changes were made in the G2 category. 12 changes were made in the G3 listing. 23 races were affected in the Listed Status races. 4 changes occurred among the non-listed while 16 races were found not eligible.
Spoiler alert: My local track, Keeneland, gained two Grade 2 stakes! In 2018 Keeneland will have 10 Grade 1 Stakes, 10 Grade 2, 12 Grade 3 and 1 Listed Status race. The changes were the JP Morgan Chase Jessamine Stakes and the Appalachian Stakes which were each increased to Grade 2. Keep reading to see how your race/track figured.
Check out this chart to see a full listing:
https://toba.org/graded-stakes/
In all the following changes were made:
New 2018 Grade 2 races alphabetically by race name, racetrack, up or down grade and 2017 winner:
- Appalachian/Keeneland/up/La Coronel
- Belmont Gold Cup Invitational/Belmont Park/up/Red Cardinal
- Delaware Handicap/Delaware Park/down/Songbird
- Glens Falls/Saratoga/up/Harmonize
- Hill Prince/Belmont Park/up/Yoshida
- Jaipur Invitational/Belmont/up/Disco Partner
- JP Morgan Chase Jessamine/Keeneland/up/Rushing Fall
- Miss Grillo/Belmont Park/up/Significant Form
New 2018 Grade 3 races alphabetically by race name, racetrack, up or down grade and 2017 winner:
- Amsterdam/Saratoga/down/Coal Front
- Baltimore/Washington International Turf Cup/Laurel Park/down/Projected
- Forward Gal/Gulfstream Park/down/Tequilita
- Honey Fox/Gulfstream Park/down/Celestine
- Kentucky Downs Ladies Sprint/Kentucky Downs/up/Lull
- Nashua/Aqueduct Racetrack/down/Avery Island
- Remington Park Oaks/Remington Park/up/Champagne Room
- Royal Delta/Gulfstream Park/down/Curlin’s Approval
- Soaring Softly/Belmont Park/up/Morticia
- Swale/Gulfstream Park/down/Favorable Outcome
- Troy/Saratoga/up/Green Mask
- West Virginia Governor’s/Mountaineer Park/up/Fear the Cowboy
New 2018 Listed Status races alphabetically by race name, racetrack, up or down grade and 2017 winner:
- Allied Forces/Belmont Park/up/White Flag
- Artie Schiller/Aqueduct/up/Fire Away
- Betfair.com Pegasus/Monmouth Park/down/Timeline
- Bolton Landing/Saratoga/up/March X Press
- Carress/Saratoga/up/Miss Ella
- Carry Back/Gulfstream Park/Gulfstream/down/Three Rules
- Cliff Hanger/Monmouth Park/down/Can’thelpbelieving
- Colonel E.R. Bradley/Fair Grounds Race Course and Slots/down/Granny’s Kitten
- David M. Vance Sprint/Remington/up/Ivan Fallunovalot
- El Camino Real Derby/Golden Gate Fields/down/Zakaroff
- Futurity/Belmont Park/down/Engage
- Green Flash Handicap/Del Mar/up/Tribalist
- Iowa Derby/Prairie Meadows/down/Hence
- Jerome/Aqueduct Racetrack/down/El Areeb
- Lady Jacqueline/Thistledown/up/Money’soncharlotte
- Los Angeles/Santa Anita/down/Lord Simba
- Marylander/Laurel Park/up/Irish War Cry
- Miami Mile/Gulfstream Park/down/War Correspondent
- Pennsylvania Derby Champion/Parx Racing/up/Page McKenney
- Richard W. Small/Laurel Park/up/Afleet Willy
- Sand Springs/Gulfstream/up/Celestine
- South Beach/Gulfstream/up/won by Tuttipaesi on 12/17/16, next edition scheduled for 1/27/18 as part of the Pegausus World Cup day at Gulfstream
- Top Flight invitational/Aqueduct Racetrack/down/Mo’ Green
New 2018 non-listed black type races alphabetically by race name, race track, up or down grade and 2017 winner:
- H.B.P.A./Presque Isle Downs/down/Cavalia
- Jean Lafitte/Delta Downs/down/missed in 2017 due to hurricane problems, Line Judge won 10/22/16
- Kip Deville/Remington/down/Final Arrow
- Remington Green/Remington/down/Turbo Street
Finally, the not eligible races changes for 2018 are as follows alphabetically by race name and race track:
- Affectionately/Aqueduct
- Decathlon/Monmouth
- Elkwood/Monmouth
- Evening Attire/Aqueduct
- Jersey Shore/Monmouth
- Last Tycoon/Santa Anita
- Lighthouse/Monmouth
- Monmouth Beach/ Monmouth
- Remington Park Spirit/Remington
- Sixty Sails/Hawtthorne
- Sorority/Monmouth
- Super Derby/Louisiana Downs
- Super Derby Prelude/Louisiana Downs
- Teddy Drone/Monmouth
- Unbridled/Louisiana Downs
- Valley Forge/Parx
As 2017 is quickly approaching its end I hope these changes bring you hope for an thrilling 2018 race year. I am looking forward to the next year of Thoroughbred adventures and I will continue to post for you now and into the upcoming year. Please, leave me a comment about what you would like to see covered in 2018. Thank you.
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