The Iroquois Stakes is a Grade III 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 two-year-olds over a distance of miles on the dirt scheduled annually in September 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 ...

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 ...

. The event currently offers a purse of $300,000.

History

The event was inaugurated on 6 November 1982 was won by the improving Highland Park who was having tenth start of his juvenile career and guided by US Hall of Fame jockey

Donald 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 ...

by a margin of 6 lengths over the one mile distance in a time of 1:38. The event is named for

Iroquois The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian-speaking confederacy of First Nations peoples in northeast North America/ Turtle Island. They were known during the colonial years to ...

, the first American horse to win the English

Epsom Derby The Derby Stakes, also known as the Epsom Derby or the Derby, and as the Cazoo Derby for sponsorship reasons, is a Group 1 flat horse race in England open to three-year-old colts and fillies. It is run at Epsom Downs Racecourse in Surrey o ...

who in turn was named for the Native American tribe, the

. In 1990 the event was classified as Grade III. In 2013, the distance for the event was increased to mile. In 2020 the event was decreased back to 1 mile. The race opens the

Road to the Kentucky Derby The Road to the Kentucky Derby is a points system by which horses qualify for a position in the starting gate for the Kentucky Derby. It features dozens of stakes races for 2 and 3-year-old Thoroughbreds – the number and specific races have chang ...

Prep Season. The winner receives 10 points toward qualifying for the

Kentucky Derby The Kentucky Derby is a horse race held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, almost always on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The competition is a Grade I stakes race for three-year ...

.The event is also a "Win and You're In" race in the

Breeders' Cup Challenge The Breeders' Cup Challenge is a series of Thoroughbred horse races in which the winner earns an automatic spot in a specified Breeders' Cup race. The challenge races change somewhat each year. The Challenge series began in 2007 with 24 "Win and Yo ...

series.

Records

Speed record * 1 mile: 1:35.01 –

Harlan's Holiday Harlan's Holiday (April 6, 1999 – November 1, 2013) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who won three Grade 1 stakes before retiring to stud where he had become a successful sire. Background Harlan's Holiday was a bay horse bred by Double ...

(2001) * miles: 1:43.58 – Dennis' Moment (2019) Margins * lengths – Not This Time (2016) 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 ...

* 4 –

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 ...

(1985, 1990, 1997, 2002) Most wins by a trainer * 4 –

William I. Mott William I. "Bill" Mott (born July 29, 1953, in Mobridge, South Dakota) is an American horse trainer, most notable for his work with Cigar. Mott earned the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Trainer in 1995 and 1996. He was inducted into the National ...

(1983, 1990, 1991, 2007) * 4 –

Dale Romans Dale L. Romans (born August 14, 1966 in Louisville, Kentucky) is an American Thoroughbred racehorse trainer, best known for winning the 2011 Preakness Stakes with Shackleford and the Breeders' Cup Turf with Little Mike. He also upset American Pha ...

(2013, 2016, 2019, 2020) Most wins by an owner * 2 – William Lucas (1983, 1990) * 2 –

Claiborne Farm Claiborne Farm is a thoroughbred horse breeding operation near Paris, Kentucky. It was established in 1910 by Arthur B. Hancock, owner of Ellerslie Stud in Albemarle County, Virginia, and has been operated by members of his family ever since. ...

(1985, 1999) * 2 –

Stonestreet Stables Jess Stonestreet Jackson Jr. (February 18, 1930 – April 21, 2011) was an American billionaire wine entrepreneur, lawyer, racehorse owner, and self-made businessman. He started the Kendall-Jackson wine business with his first wife, Jane Kend ...

(2006, 2010) * 2 – Albaugh Family Stables (2019, 2020) * 2 –

WinStar Farm WinStar Farm is an American Thoroughbred horse breeding and horse racing, racing farm near Versailles, Kentucky, owned by Kenny Troutt. It won the 2010 Eclipse Award for Outstanding Owner and 2016 Eclipse Award for Outstanding Breeder, Outstandi ...

(2007, 2021)

Winners

References

{{reflist, 2 1982 establishments in Kentucky Churchill Downs horse races Flat horse races for two-year-olds Graded stakes races in the United States Grade 3 stakes races in the United States Breeders' Cup Challenge series Recurring sporting events established in 1982

History

Records

Winners

See also

References