Keeneland Fall Meet begins Friday in Lexington

Runs through Oct. 29

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 3, 2016) — Keeneland’s 2016 Fall Meet begins Friday and runs through Oct. 29.

Racing is highlighted by 17 graded stakes worth $5.275 million, six of them Grade 1 races led by the $1 million Shadwell Turf Mile (G1) on Oct. 8. Eight Fall Meet stakes are Breeders’ Cup Challenge “Win and You’re In” races, which award to the winner an automatic berth in the Breeders’ Cup World Championships, Nov. 4-5 at Santa Anita Park.

Since the inception of the Breeders’ Cup in 1984, the winners of 43 Breeders’ Cup races made their final start before the World Championships during Keeneland’s Fall Meet. The track successfully hosted the Breeders’ Cup for the first time in October 2015.

Fall Stars Weekend, Oct. 7-9, features nine graded stakes, seven of them Breeders’ Cup Challenge races: $400,000 Darley Alcibiades (G1) (a Challenge race for the 14 Hands Winery Juvenile Fillies-G1) and $250,000 Stoll Keenon Ogden Phoenix (G2) (TwinSpires Sprint-G1) on Oct. 7; $1 million Shadwell Turf Mile (G1) (Mile-G1), $500,000 Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity (G1) (Sentient Jet Juvenile-G1) and $250,000 Thoroughbred Club of America (G2) (Filly and Mare Sprint-G1) on Oct. 8; and $500,000 Juddmonte Spinster (G1) (Distaff-G1); and $250,000 Dixiana Bourbon (G3) (Juvenile Turf-G1) on Oct. 9.

The eighth Breeders’ Cup Challenge race is the JPMorgan Chase Jessamine (G3) on Oct. 12, which awards the winner a berth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1).

A sixth Grade 1 stakes, the internationally prominent $500,000 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup Presented by Lane’s End for 3-year-old fillies at 1 1/8 miles on the turf is scheduled for Oct. 15.

NBC Sports will broadcast from Keeneland during Fall Stars Weekend as part of the “Breeders’ Cup Challenge Win and You’re In Series presented by Lane’s End Farm and America’s Best Racing.” On opening Saturday, NBC will feature the Thoroughbred Club of America, Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity and Shadwell Turf Mile and the next day will present the Juddmonte Spinster and Dixiana Bourbon. Both programs will air 5-6 p.m.

TVG will provide live coverage from Keeneland during the Fall Meet, beginning at 1 p.m. each race day. Additional TVG coverage will air on FOX Sports affiliates including FSN Prime Ticket, Fox Sports San Diego, Fox Sports Sun, Fox Sports Southeast and Mid-Atlantic Sports Network.

Keeneland also offers free live streaming of its races on Keeneland.com.