The Mint Millions Stakes is a Grade III American Thoroughbred horse race for three years olds and older, over a distance of one mile on the turf held annually in September at

Kentucky Downs Kentucky Downs is a Thoroughbred horse racing track located on the border between Kentucky and Tennessee, in the city of Franklin, Kentucky, just off Interstate 65. It is unique among American tracks in that it is a European-style course—its su ...

racetrack in Franklin, Kentucky during their short turf meeting. The event currently carries an offered purse of $2,000,000 which includes $1,000,000 from the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund.

History

The inaugural running of the event was on 11 October 1992 as the Sanford Duncan Stakes at a distance of about one mile. The event was named after an early settler in the area, Sanford Duncan who had built an Inn in 1818 which was on the Lexington to Nashville road adjacent to where the Dueling Grounds race track is located today. The event was not held in 1996 and 1997 due to the race track being closed while it was being auctioned. In 1998 new ownership of the race track revived the event as part of the Kentucky Cup, which interlaced races from

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), ...

and the newly renamed Kentucky Downs. The event was scheduled as a handicap and was known as the Kentucky Cup Mile Handicap. In 2002 the conditions of the event were changed from handicap to stakes allowance and the name of the event was modified. In 2005 and 2006 the event was not scheduled as part of the Kentucky Cup program. In 2007 the event was revived as the Franklin Stakes and in 2008 the event was held as the Franklin-Simpson Stakes in honor of the city and county where the

racetrack is located. For the 2012 and 2013 runnings the event was known as the Franklin-Simpson Mile Stakes. In 2014 the event was renamed once again to the More Than Ready Mile Stakes in honor of G1

King's Bishop Stakes The H. Allen Jerkens Memorial Stakes is a Grade I American thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds run over a distance of seven furlongs on the dirt held in August at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York. The current purse for th ...

winner More than Ready who stood at WinStar Farm from 2013. More Than Ready became the number 1 sire of Breeders' Cup wins with seven. The 2014 winner Regally Ready was sired also by More Than Ready. With the influx of gaming revenue at

the purse for the event has risen dramatically to $300,000 offered by 2014. In 2017 the event was renamed to the Tourist Mile Stakes after the 2015 winner of the event,

Tourist Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism mo ...

who went onto win the Breeders' Cup Mile at Santa Anita Park. Tourist was part-owned by WinStar Farm and is currently active at the stud. In 2021 the event was upgraded by the

Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association {{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. ...

to a Grade III. For the 2021 running Kentucky Downs raised the purse to $1 million and renamed the event to the Mint Million sponsored by

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 ...

. In 2023 the purse was raised to $2,000,000 and the name of the event was modified to Mint Millions.

Records

Speed record: * 1 mile – 1:32.21 Flavius (2020) Margins: * lengths – Depeche Chat (2012) 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 –

Jose Valdivia Jr. Jose Valdivia Jr. (born December 8, 1974 in Lima, Peru) is a jockey in American Thoroughbred horse racing. The son of a top South American jockey, he is the nephew of retired jockey Fernando Toro and trainer, Juan Suarez. He and his family mo ...

(2007, 2017) * 2 – Julio García (2011, 2018) * 2 –

Julien Leparoux Julien R. Leparoux (born July 15, 1983 in Senlis, Oise, France) is a French Eclipse Award winning jockey currently racing in the United States. He has won seven Breeders' Cup races, including the 2015 Breeders' Cup Mile with Champion Turf Mare T ...

(2016, 2019) Most wins by a trainer: * 2 – Walter M. Bindner Jr. (1993, 1995) * 2 – William I. Mott (2000, 2015) * 2 –

Wesley A. Ward Wesley A. Ward (born March 3, 1968, in Selah, Washington) is a retired American Champion jockey and a current trainer in Thoroughbred horse racing. Background Ward grew up in the horse racing industry, being the son of trainer Dennis Ward.

(2011, 2018) * 2 – Steven M. Asmussen (2014, 2019) * 2 –

Michael J. Maker Michael J. Maker (born February 7, 1969) is an American trainer of Thoroughbred racehorses. The son of a trainer, he learned the business from his father then set up his own public stable in 1991. In 1993 he went to work as an assistant to U.S. ...

(2016, 2022) Most wins by an owner: * 3 – Kenneth L. and Sarah K. Ramsey (2011, 2013, 2016)

Winners

References

{{reflist Kentucky Downs Graded stakes races in the United States Grade 3 stakes races in the United States Recurring sporting events established in 1992 1992 establishments in Kentucky Horse races in Kentucky Turf races in the United States Open mile category horse races

History

Records

Winners

See also

References