The Fayette Stakes is a

Grade II In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

American

thoroughbred horse race Thoroughbred racing is a sport and industry involving the racing of Thoroughbred horses. It is governed by different national bodies. There are two forms of the sport – flat racing and jump racing, the latter known as National Hunt racing in ...

for horses age three and older over a distance of one and one-eighth miles on the dirt held annually in October at

Keeneland Race Course Keeneland Association, Inc. is an equine business based in Lexington, Kentucky. It includes two distinct divisions: the Keeneland Race Course, a Thoroughbred racing facility, and Keeneland Sales, a horse auction complex. It is also known for i ...

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a city in Kentucky, United States that is the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, Fayette County. By population, it is the List of cities in Kentucky, second-largest city in Kentucky and List of United States cities by popul ...

during the fall meeting. It currently offers a purse of $350,000.

History

The event is named for

Fayette County, Kentucky Fayette County is located in the central part of the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 322,570, making it the second-most populous county in the commonwealth. Its territory, population and government are coextens ...

, of which the city of Lexington is the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

. The inaugural running of the event was on 24 October 1959, closing day of the Keeneland Fall meeting as the Fayette Handicap. The event attracted some fine handicap horses from Kentucky and around the

Midwest The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four Census Bureau Region, census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of ...

. The day the event was held the weather was wet and windy and the track was rated as sloppy. The winner H. Edsall Olson & R. Douglas Prewitt's Terra Firma, was a short 4/5 odds-on favorite after earlier in the month setting a new course record for the miles distance in the Charles W. Bidwill Memorial Handicap at

Hawthorne Race Course Hawthorne Race Course is a racetrack for horse racing in Stickney/Cicero, Illinois, near Chicago. The oldest continually run family-owned racetrack in North America, in 2009 the Horseplayers Association of North America introduced a rating syst ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. The following year the event was held on opening day of the Keeneland Fall meeting. In the 1960s the event was won twice by horses that were imported to the United States by Bruno Ferrari. The 1961 longshot winner Zumbador II was the 1960 Uruguayan Triple Crown winner. The 1966 winner Yumbel was the 1965 Horse of the Year and Champion Older Horse in

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

. In 1963 the distance of the event was decreased to miles and the winner Choker equaled the track record of 1:41 winning by two lengths. In 1965 the gallant six-year-old mare Old Hat won by a neck and was later voted as US Champion Older Dirt Female Horse for a second time. Other fine winners of the event from that era include Thomas F. Devereux's Royal Harmony, who won the event three times straight, 1969-1971. His 1970 victory was noteworthy in that Royal Harmony defeated the

1970 Kentucky Derby The 1970 Kentucky Derby was the 96th running of the Kentucky Derby. The race took place on May 2, 1970. The race is most notable in American popular culture as the setting for "The Kentucky Derby Is Decadent and Depraved", an article written fo ...

winner

Dust Commander Dust Commander (February 8, 1967 – October 7, 1991) was an American Thoroughbred race horse. Background The name "Dust Commander" is derived from his dam, Dust Storm, and his sire, Bold Commander. A descendant of Nearco, Dust Commander was br ...

who was promoted to second after Fast Hilarious was disqualified. The 1972 winner was the only other filly to win the event, Emanuel V. Benjamin III & William G. Clark's Chou Croute. Although Chou Croute was the favorite and won by a neck her outstanding performances during the year landed her US Champion Sprinter honors for 1972. The event was run in two split divisions in 1976 and 1982. In 1979 the distance of the event was reverted back to the original miles. The same year the

American Graded Stakes Committee {{short description, Organization for Thoroughbred racehorse owners and breeders The American Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association (TOBA) based in Lexington, Kentucky is a trade organization for Thoroughbred racehorse owners and breeders. ...

upgraded the event to Grade III classification. The race was contested on

turf Sod, also known as turf, is the upper layer of soil with the grass growing on it that is often harvested into rolls. In Australian and British English, sod is more commonly known as ''turf'', and the word "sod" is limited mainly to agricult ...

in 1985 for the only running and was won by 70/1 longshot Wop Wop setting a new course record for the turf distance in 1:51 winning by lengths. In 1987 the event was upgraded to

status and although currently the event hold that status, between 1997 and 2008 the event held a Grade III classification. In 1992 the conditions of the event were modified to stakes with allowances and the name was subsequently changed to Fayette Stakes. In 1997 running Universe ridden by

Craig Perret Craig Perret (born February 2, 1951, in New Orleans, Louisiana) is an American thoroughbred horse racing jockey. He began riding horses at age five and by seven was riding quarter horses in match races. At age fifteen he began his career in thorou ...

broke down early on while tracking leader Whiskey Wisdom causing Preocity to fall hindering the other three runners. Whiskey Wisdom went on to win easily by twelve lengths which remains to date to be the stakes winning margin record. The distance of the event was increased to miles in 1998. However, even with

Breeders' Cup 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, ...

sponsorship awards the then event was poorly fielded and the distance was reverted back to miles after three runnings of the event. The event was run on

Polytrack The track surface of a horse racing track refers to the material of which the track is made. There are three types of track surfaces used in modern horse racing. These are: *Turf, the most common track surface in Europe *Dirt, the most common track ...

from 2006 through 2013. Other notable winners of this event include 1990

Preakness Stakes The Preakness Stakes is an American thoroughbred horse race held on Armed Forces Day which is also the third Saturday in May each year at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. It is a Grade I race run over a distance of 9.5 furlongs () on ...

winner Summer Squall who won the event in 1991 as the 2/5 odds-on favorite defeating his rival

Unbridled Unbridled (March 5, 1987 – October 18, 2001) was a champion American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 1990 Kentucky Derby and Breeders' Cup Classic. He retired with a career record of eight wins, six places, and six shows in 24 starts, ...

by three lengths. One month later

would meet Summer Squall in the

Breeders' Cup Classic The Breeders' Cup Classic is a Grade I Weight for Age thoroughbred horse race for 3-year-olds and older run at a distance of on dirt. It is held annually at a different racetrack as part of the Breeders' Cup World Championships in late October o ...

at Churchill Downs with

finishing third and Summer Squall ninth. The 2009 winner of this event,

Blame Blame is the act of censuring, holding responsible, or making negative statements about an individual or group that their actions or inaction are socially or morally irresponsible, the opposite of praise. When someone is morally responsible for ...

won his first

Graded stakes race A graded stakes race is a thoroughbred horse race in the United States that meets the criteria of the American Graded Stakes Committee of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association (TOBA). A specific grade level (I, II, III or listed) is then ...

in a career that would end with him winning the

the following year and winning US Champion Older Male Horse honors. Blame's sire and 2012 winner Newsdad's sire

Arch An arch is a vertical curved structure that spans an elevated space and may or may not support the weight above it, or in case of a horizontal arch like an arch dam, the hydrostatic pressure against it. Arches may be synonymous with vaul ...

won this event setting a new track record for the miles distance in 1998. The 2011 winner of this event,

Wise Dan Wise Dan (foaled February 20, 2007) is a champion American Hall of Fame and Canadian Hall of Fame Thoroughbred racehorse. He is the first horse to win the same three Eclipse Awards in consecutive years, having been named American Horse of the ...

displayed his versatility winning on the polytrack surface and later becoming the US Horse of the Year in 2012 and 2013.

Records

Speed record: * miles: 1:46.80 - Good Command (1987) & Grand Jewel (1993) * miles: 1:41.20 - Silver Series (1978) * miles: 1:53.87 -

(1998) ;Margins *12 lengths – Whiskey Wisdom (1997) ;Most wins * 3 - Royal Harmony (1969, 1970, 1971) ;Most wins by a

jockey A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used to describe the individual ...

* 5 -

Don Brumfield Donald Alan "Don" Brumfield (born May 24, 1938) is a retired American jockey from Kentucky. During his thirty-five-year career, Brumfield won 4,573 races in 33,222 rides. He retired from racing in 1989. Brumfield was the "track all-time leading r ...

(1978, 1982, 1983, 1987, 1988) ;Most wins by a trainer * 4 - Neil J. Howard (1991, 1993, 2004, 2005) ;Most wins by an owner * 4 - William S. Farish III (1973, 1993, 2004, 2005)

Winners

''Legend:''

''Notes:''
§ Ran as an

entry Entry may refer to: *Entry, West Virginia, an unincorporated community in the United States *Entry (cards), a term used in trick-taking card-games *Entry (economics), a term in connection with markets * ''Entry'' (film), a 2013 Indian Malayalam fil ...

ƒ Filly or Mare
† In the 1978 running of the event 1978 finished first but was disqualified for impeding Silver Series in the stretch run and set back to second.

External sites

Keeneland Media Guide

References

{{reflist, 2 Graded stakes races in the United States Grade 2 stakes races in the United States Open mile category horse races Recurring sporting events established in 1959 Keeneland horse races 1959 establishments in Kentucky

History

Records

Winners

See also

External sites

References