Kentucky Downs has had steady growth year after year in the participation of horses from Europe, and that reached a peak Sept. 5 as all three European runners in the $1,095,000 Grade 2 AGS Kentucky Turf Cup Invitational Stakes.
In its 40-plus years, the Breeders’ Cup World Championships has produced many stretch duels that have become part of racing’s lore, from the very first Classic in 1984 to Tiznow’s back-to-back Classic wins in 2000 and 2001, and on through Blame’s defeat of Zenyatta in the 2010 Classic and
Eight talented 2-year-old Thoroughbreds will face off in Sunday’s $300,000 Spendthrift Farm Hopeful Stakes at Saratoga, a historic Grade 1 race with an impressive roster of recent winners.
Kentucky Downs is the place for American turf racing on a European style course. It’s also the home of huge purses. Saturday’s loaded card offers large fields of good turf horses looking to cash in.
The AGS Kentucky Turf Cup Invitational Stakes has been a fixture at Kentucky Downs since before the turn of the century, a 1 ½-mile grass race that now boosts a seven-figure purse and regularly draws elite turf runners from both the U.S. and abroad.
