The Pocahontas 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-old

fillies A filly is a female horse that is too young to be called a mare. There are two specific definitions in use: *In most cases, a ''filly'' is a female horse under four years old. *In some nations, such as the United Kingdom and the United States, t ...

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 ...

History

The race was first held on

Thanksgiving Day Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Philippines. It is also observed in the Netherlander town of Leiden a ...

, 27 November 1969 and was fittingly named for

Pocahontas Pocahontas (, ; born Amonute, known as Matoaka, 1596 – March 1617) was a Native American woman, belonging to the Powhatan people, notable for her association with the colonial settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. She was the daughter of ...

, the daughter of Native-American chief

Powhatan The Powhatan people (; also spelled Powatan) may refer to any of the indigenous Algonquian people that are traditionally from eastern Virginia. All of the Powhatan groups descend from the Powhatan Confederacy. In some instances, The Powhatan ...

, who aided the early American settlers and the same named

, the 19th century British-bred thoroughbred mare, who had a great influence on the breed. The stakes race remained as a Thanksgiving Day event until 1982 when it was moved to the early weeks of the Fall Meet. The event was first classified as Grade III in 2005 and a Grade II race in 2010. In 2020 the event was downgraded back to Grade III. The distance of the race originated at 7 furlongs and was run at that distance for the first 13 years from 1969 to 1981. The distance was changed to one mile beginning in 1982 and continued at that distance through 2012. In 2013, the distance was increased to miles. In 2020 the event was decreased back to 1 mile. The event was split into divisions eight times with the last occurrence in 1983. The new scheduling allowed the Pocahontas to become a major prep for the

Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies The Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies is a -mile thoroughbred horse race on dirt (although the distance has varied, depending on the configuration of the host track) for two-year-old fillies run annually since 1984 at a different racetrack in the Uni ...

. It is 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. The Pocahontas is the first step on the annual Road to the Kentucky Oaks, a points system to qualify for the

Kentucky Oaks The Kentucky Oaks is a Graded stakes race, Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbred Filly, fillies staged annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. The race currently covers at Churchill Downs; the horses carry . The Kentucky O ...

at Churchill Downs in the spring of the following year.

Records

Speed record * miles: 1:43.78 – Hidden Connection (2021) * 1 mile: 1:34.57 – Sara Louise (2008) * 7 furlongs: 1:22.40 – Fair Ye Well (1970) Margins * lengths – Serengeti Empress (2018) 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 ...

* 7 –

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 ...

(1983 div.1, 1983 div.2, 1984, 1987, 1994, 1995, 2004) Most wins by a trainer * 3 – Dale L. Romans (2008, 2009, 2014) * 3 –

D. Wayne Lukas Darrell Wayne Lukas (born September 2, 1935 in Antigo, Wisconsin) is an American horse trainer and a U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee. He has won twenty Breeders' Cup races, received five Eclipse Awards for his accomplishments, and his horses ha ...

(1988, 1994, 2003) * 3 – Pete Vestal (1991, 1996, 1997) Most wins by an owner * 3 – Wilmott Stables (1991, 1996, 1997)

Winners

''Notes:''
† Divisions of the event in 1973, 1976 and 1977 were run on different days
§ Ran as part of an entry

References

{{reflist, 2 Churchill Downs horse races Grade 3 stakes races in the United States Flat horse races for two-year-old fillies Graded stakes races in the United States Breeders' Cup Challenge series Recurring sporting events established in 1969 1969 establishments in Kentucky

History

Records

Winners

See also

References