The Kentucky Cup Classic Stakes is an 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 ...

run annually in late September as part of Kentucky Cup Day at

Turfway Park Turfway Park is an American horse racing track located within the city limits of Florence, Kentucky, about south of the Ohio River at Cincinnati. The track conducts live Thoroughbred horse racing during two meets each year—Holiday (December), ...

in the

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

suburb of

Florence, Kentucky Florence is a home rule-class city in Boone County, Kentucky, United States. Florence is the second largest city located in Northern Kentucky, after Covington, and part of the Greater Cincinnati Metropolitan Area. The population was 31,946 at ...

. 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 ...

event for three-year-olds and up, the Kentucky Cup Classic currently offers a purse of $170,000 and is set at a distance of miles on the dirt. With the support of

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 ...

, this race was suspended in 2010 due to economic challenges, but returned in 2011. On August 29, 2017, after having not been run since its "revival" in 2011, general manager Daniel "Chip" Bach announced the Kentucky Cup Classic would return once again in 2018. The race was run on the

Spiral Stakes The Spiral Stakes (known as the Jeff Ruby Steaks, a homophone of the word Stakes, for commercial reasons) is a Grade III American thoroughbred horse race at a distance of a one and one-eighth miles on the synthetic track in late March at Turfway ...

undercard. In 2020, Nun the Less, a

gelding A gelding is a castrated male horse or other equine, such as a pony, donkey or a mule. Castration, as well as the elimination of hormonally driven behavior associated with a stallion, allows a male equine to be calmer and better-behaved, makin ...

son of

Candy Ride Candy Ride (foaled September 27, 1999 in Argentina) is a retired Thoroughbred racehorse who went undefeated in six starts on both turf and dirt racing surfaces in Argentina and the United States. In Argentina, he won the Gran Premio San Isidro a ...

, became the first horse to win the race twice, having won it the first time the previous year. He also became the oldest horse to win the race, winning in 2020 at age 8. Future Prospect, a son of Giant's Causeway's full-brother Freud, had previously been the oldest horse to win, having won in 2011 at age 7.

Records

;Time record * 1:47.43 - Atticus (1996) ;Most wins by an owner * 2 -

Michael Tabor Michael Barry Tabor (born 28 October 1941) is a British businessman, bookmaker, gambler and owner of thoroughbred racehorses. Tabor regularly appears on the ''Sunday Times Rich List'' of the richest people in Britain. In 2012 his fortune w ...

(1995, 2006) *2 - Crystal Racing Enterprises and Contreras Stable, Inc. (2019, 2020) ;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 ...

* 3 -

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 ...

(1994, 1998, 2003) ;Most wins by a trainer * 3 -

Bob Baffert Robert A. Baffert (born January 13, 1953) is an American racehorse trainer who trained the 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah and 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify. Baffert's horses have won a record six Kentucky Derbies, seven Preakne ...

(1997, 1998, 2000) *2 - Cipriano Contreras (2019, 2020) Most wins by a

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million y ...

* 2 - Nun the Less (2019, 2020)

Winners of the Kentucky Cup Classic Stakes

References

{{Reflist
The Kentucky Cup Classic Stakes at Pedigree Query

Official website for Turfway Park

Kentucky Cup Stakes
restored by

Graded stakes races in the United States Open mile category horse races Turfway Park horse races Recurring sporting events established in 1994 1994 establishments in Kentucky