The Wise Dan 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 four-year-old and older run at a distance of one and one sixteenth of a mile on the
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 agricultu ...
held annually in June at
Churchill Downs
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 ...
racetrack in
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...
.
History
The event was inaugurated on 4 July 1983 as the Firecracker Handicap over a distance of 7 furlongs on a sloppy dirt track and was won by Shot n' Missed who defeated the odds on favorite Dave's Friend in a five horse field.
[ In the third running in 1985 the winner Rapid Gray set a new track record for the distance in a time of 1:21.][ The event was discontinued for seven years and when it was revived in 1993 it was held on the turf course over a distance of one mile.]Kitten's Joy
Kitten's Joy (May 8, 2001 – July 15, 2022) was a Thoroughbred racehorse who was a multiple graded stakes winner and the American Champion Turf Horse of 2004. Since retiring to stud, he became one of the leading sires in North America and ha ...
who won the event in 2004 and later that year became U.S. Champion Male Turf Horse and Miesque's Approval
Miesque's Approval (foaled March 3, 1999 in Florida) is an American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 2006 Breeders' Cup Mile and was voted that year's American Champion Male Turf Horse. He was bred and raced by Charlotte Weber's Live Oak Planta ...
who won this event in 2006 and later that year would capture the Breeders' Cup Mile
The Breeders' Cup Mile is a Grade 1 Weight for Age stakes race for thoroughbred racehorses three years old and up, run on a grass course. It has been conducted annually as part of the Breeders' Cup World Championships since the event's incept ...
.
The only duel winner was 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 ...
of this event who in 2011 won in his turf debut and 2013.American Horse of the Year
The American Award for Horse of the Year, one of the Eclipse Awards, is the highest honor given in American thoroughbred horse racing. Because Thoroughbred horse racing in the United States has no governing body to sanction the various awards, "Hor ...
for the second year running.
The race was renamed as the Wise Dan Stakes in 2016
Records
;Speed records
* miles: 1:40.26 – Kasaqui (ARG) (2017)
* 1 mile: 1:33.78 – Jaggery John (1995)
* 7 furlongs: 1:21.20 – Rapid Gray (1985)
;Margins:
* lengths – Soviet Line
Soviet Line (foaled 18 March 1990) was an Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse. He was a durable gelding who raced for seven seasons between 1993 and 1999, showing his best form over the one mile distance, and winning sixteen of ...
(IRE) (1997)
;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 ...
* 2 – Robby Albarado
Robby J. Albarado (born September 11, 1973, in Lafayette, Louisiana) is an American Thoroughbred horse racing jockey. He began riding at the age of 10 and progressed to riding at bush tracks in his native Louisiana by the age of 12. After turning ...
(1999, 2014)
* 2 – Kent J. Desormeaux (2008, 2009)
* 2 – Shane Sellers
Shane Jude Sellers (born September 24, 1966 in Erath, Louisiana) is an American Thoroughbred horse racing jockey. At age eleven, he began working around horses and in 1983 rode his first winner at Evangeline Downs.
Sellers won several national ...
(2000, 2004)
* 2 – Pat Day
Patrick Alan "Pat" Day (born October 13, 1953, in Brush, Colorado) is a retired American jockey. He is a four-time winner of the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Jockey and was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1991 an ...
(1997, 2002)
;Most wins by a trainer
* 4 – Dale L. Romans (2003, 2004, 2008, 2014)
Winners
''Legend:''
See also
List of American and Canadian Graded races
The List of American and Canadian Graded races is a list of Thoroughbred horse races in the United States and Canada that meet the graded stakes standards maintained by the American Graded Stakes Committee of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders ...
External links
2019 Media guide information from Churchill Downs $250,000 Wise Dan (Grade II) -
References
{{Reflist, 2
Graded stakes races in the United States
Grade 2 stakes races in the United States
Turf races in the United States
Open mile category horse races
Churchill Downs horse races
Recurring sporting events established in 1983
1983 establishments in Kentucky