Ungraded stakes race | |
Location | Churchill Downs, Louisville, Kentucky, United States |
---|---|
Inaugurated | 2004 |
Race type | Thoroughbred - Flat racing |
Race information | |
Distance | 1 mile (8 furlongs) |
Surface | Dirt |
Track | left-handed |
Qualification | Three-year-olds and up |
Purse | $116,500 added |
The Opening Verse Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually at Churchill Downs. A race on turf over a distance of one mile, it is open to horses of either sex age three and older. The race is named for Opening Verse, winner of the 1991 Breeders' Cup Mile at Churchill Downs, and was run as the Opening Verse Handicap from inception through 2008.
The inaugural running of the Opening Verse took place on June 12, 2004, and was won by Senor Swinger. [1] Owned by prominent Californians Robert & Beverly Lewis and trained by U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee Bob Baffert, Senior Swinger returned to win the race for a second time on June 18, 2005. [2]
In 2013 and again in 2020, weather conditions were such that for safety reasons the race was switched from the turf course to the dirt track. [3] [4]
Speed record:
Most wins:
Most wins by a jockey:
Most wins by a trainer:
Most wins by an owner:
Year | Winner | Age | Jockey | Trainer | Owner | Dist. (Miles) | Time | Win $ | Gr. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2022 | Gray's Fable | 4 | Luis Saez | Roger L. Attfield | Steve Goldfine, Kari Provost & Jeff Zlonis | 1 m | 1:36.22 | $96,722 | B/T |
2021 | Set Piece | 4 | Florent Geroux | Brad H. Cox | Juddmonte Farm | 1 m | 1:38.26 | $54,126 | B/T |
2020 | Crafty Daddy | 4 | Brian Hernandez Jr. | Kenneth G. McPeek | Lucky Seven Stable (Mackin Brothers) | 1 m | 1:34.10 | $71,730 | B/T |
2019 | Siem Riep | 5 | James Graham | Ben Colebrook | Marc Detampel | 1 m | 1:35.07 | $68,776 | B/T |
2018 | Mr Cub | 4 | Chris Landeros | Ian R. Wilkes | Turf Stable Racing (Rusty Jones) | 1 m | 1:34.69 | $42,780 | B/T |
2017 | Pleuven | 6 | Corey Lanerie | Philip A. Sims | Nelson McMakin | 1 m | 1:36.15 | $32,993 | B/T |
2016 | Thatcher Street | 5 | Brian Hernandez Jr. | Ian R. Wilkes | Randall L. Bloch, Phil Milner, John Seiler, Amtietan LLC (Fred Merritt) | 1 m | 1:38.22 | $39,780 | B/T |
2015 | The Pizza Man | 6 | Florent Geroux | Roger Brueggemann | Midwest Thoroughbreds, Inc. | 1-1/16 m | 1:43.29 | $32,400 | B/T |
2014 | Regally Ready | 7 | Rosie Napravnik | Steven M. Asmussen | Vinery Stables | 1-1/16 m | 1:42.26 | $39,660 | B/T |
2013 | Silver Max | 4 | Robby Albarado | Dale L. Romans | Mark Bacon & Dana Wells | 1-1/16 m | 1:44.34 | $39,420 | B/T |
2012 | Guys Reward | 5 | Corey Lanerie | Dale L. Romans | Michael J. Bruder | 1-1/16 m | 1:41.98 | $44,820 | B/T |
2011 | Turallure | 4 | Julien Leparoux | Charles LoPresti | Four D Stable (Donna Arnold) | 1-1/16 m | 1:40.41 | $46,380 | B/T |
2010 | Tizdejavu | 5 | Jesús Castañón | Gregory J. Fox | Michael Cooper & Pamela Ziebarth | 1-1/16 m | 1:42.35 | $37,800 | B/T |
2009 | Race not held | ||||||||
2008 | Inca King | 4 | Shaun Bridgmohan | Steven M. Asmussen | Heiligbrodt Racing Stable | 1-1/16 m | 1:42.39 | $70,503 | L/R |
2007 | Therecomesatiger | 5 | Jamie Theriot | Thomas F. Proctor | Charles R. Patton | 1-1/16 m | 1:43.64 | $67,270 | L/R |
2006 | Rush Bay | 4 | Rafael Bejarano | Thomas M. Amoss | Mueller Thoroughbred Stable, Ltd. & Phoebe Mueller | 1-1/16 m | 1:42.52 | $67,580 | L/R |
2005 | Senor Swinger | 5 | Brice Blanc | Bob Baffert | Robert Lewis & Beverly Lewis | 1-1/16 m | 1:42.07 | $68,944 | |
2004 | Senor Swinger | 4 | Pat Day | Bob Baffert | Robert Lewis & Beverly Lewis | 1-1/16 m | 1:45.82 | $68,758 |
The Breeders' Cup World Championships is an annual series of Grade I Thoroughbred horse races, operated by Breeders' Cup Limited, a company formed in 1982. From its inception in 1984 through 2006, it was a single-day event; starting in 2007, it expanded to two days. All sites have been in the United States, except in 1996, when the races were at the Woodbine Racetrack in Canada.
The Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf is a Weight for Age Thoroughbred horse race on turf for fillies and mares, three years old and up. It is held annually at a different racetrack in the United States as part of the Breeders' Cup World Championships.
Churchill Downs is a horse racing complex located on Central Avenue in south Louisville, Kentucky, United States, famed for hosting the annual Kentucky Derby. It officially opened in 1875 and was named for Samuel Churchill, whose family was prominent in Kentucky for many years. The first Kentucky Derby, a Thoroughbred sweepstakes and part of today's horse racing Triple Crown, and the first Kentucky Oaks were held in the same year. Churchill Downs has also hosted the renowned Breeders' Cup on nine occasions, most recently on November 2 and 3, 2018.
Robert A. Baffert is an American racehorse trainer who trained the 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah and 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify. Baffert's horses have won a record six Kentucky Derbies, seven Preakness Stakes, three Belmont Stakes, and three Kentucky Oaks.
The Arlington Million is a Grade 1 flat horse race in the United States for thoroughbred horses aged three years and upward on the turf. It was originally raced at the now-closed Arlington Park in Arlington Heights, Illinois over a distance of 1+1⁄4 miles.
The Beverly D. Stakes is a Grade 1 flat horse race in the United States for thoroughbred fillies and mares aged three years and upward. It was originally raced at the now-closed Arlington Park in Arlington Heights, Illinois over a distance of 1+3⁄16 miles on the turf as a supporting stakes race on the Arlington Million racing program.
The Clark Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually in late November at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. Among the oldest races in the United States, it was first run in 1875, the year the racetrack opened for business. Currently a Grade I event, it is open to horses age three and older and is contested on dirt over a distance of 1+1⁄8 miles. It was known as the Clark Handicap through 2018 before the race conditions were changed to set weights and allowances in 2019.
The Chandelier Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually at the end of September at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. It is restricted to two-year-old fillies. The Grade II race is contested at a distance of one and one-sixteenth miles on the main track at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California.
The American Pharoah Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually near the end of September during the fall meet at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. A Grade I event, it is open to two-year-old horses and is held at a distance of one and one-sixteenth miles on the dirt.
The Alysheba Stakes is a Grade II American Thoroughbred horse race for horses aged three and older over a distance of 1+1⁄16 miles on the dirt held annually in early May on the Kentucky Oaks day meeting at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky during the spring meeting.
The Steve Sexton Mile Stakes is a Grade III American Thoroughbred horse race for horses three years old and older over the distance of one mile (8 furlongs on the dirt scheduled annually in late May at Lone Star Park in Grand Prairie, Texas.
This is a listing of the horses that finished in either first, second, or third place and the number of starters in the Kentucky Oaks, the first leg of the de facto American Triple Tiara of Thoroughbred Racing, an American Grade 1 race for three-year-old fillies at 1+1⁄8 miles on the dirt held at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky.
The 2015 Kentucky Derby was the 141st running of the Kentucky Derby. The race was run at 6:44 pm Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) on May 2, 2015, at Churchill Downs. It was broadcast in the United States on the NBC television network. Kentucky native Ashley Judd voiced the opening for the telecast of the race, and was the first woman to do so.
Dortmund was an American Thoroughbred racehorse. In 2014, he was undefeated in three races and established himself as one of the best juveniles in California with a win in the Los Alamitos Futurity. In the early part of 2015, he moved into contention for the American Triple Crown races with wins in the Robert B. Lewis Stakes, San Felipe Stakes, and Santa Anita Derby. In his return to racing in the fall of 2015, Dortmund took the Big Bear Stakes and Native Diver Handicap- his final career victories. He died in South Korea on April 18, 2022 at the age of ten, due to colic.
McKinzie is an American Thoroughbred racehorse who was a multiple graded stakes winner and came first or second in fourteen of his eighteen races.
The 2020 Kentucky Derby was the 146th Kentucky Derby, and took place on Saturday, September 5, 2020, in Louisville, Kentucky. The race is one of the three legs of the American Triple Crown, open to three-year-old Thoroughbreds. The Kentucky Derby was originally scheduled for the first Saturday of May, but the 2020 running was rescheduled to September 5, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Kentucky. It was won by Authentic.
The 2021 Kentucky Derby was the 147th running of the Kentucky Derby. It took place on May 1, 2021, in Louisville, Kentucky. The field was open to 20 horses, who qualified for the race by earning points on the 2021 Road to the Kentucky Derby. The Kentucky Derby is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbreds at a distance of 1+1⁄4 miles (2.0 km) and has been run at Churchill Downs racetrack since its inception in 1875. The purse for 2021 was US$3 million.
Medina Spirit was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who finished first in the 2021 Kentucky Derby before being disqualified. He came second in the 2021 Breeders' Cup Classic and third in the 2021 Preakness Stakes.
The 2022 Road to the Kentucky Derby is a series of races through which horses qualified for the 2022 Kentucky Derby, which was held on May 7. The field for the Derby is limited to 20 horses, with up to four 'also eligibles' in case of a late withdrawal from the field. There are three separate paths for horses to take to qualify for the Derby: the main Road consisting of races in North America, the Japan Road consisting of four races in Japan, and the European road consisting of seven races in England, Ireland and France. The top four finishers in the specified races receive points, with higher points awarded in the major prep races in March and April. Earnings in non-restricted stakes races act as a tie breaker.