The Safely Kept Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Laurel Park Racecourse in Laurel, Maryland. Open to fillies aged three, it is competed on dirt over a distance of seven furlongs. Run during October, it offers a purse of $100,000. The Safely Kept Breeders' Cup Stakes is one of the top sprints for three-year-old fillies in the country. One of the few six-furlong contests with graded status for three-year-olds that leads to the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint. It was inaugurated in 1986 as the Columbia Stakes. The stakes record is held by Godmother who finished the six furlongs in 1:09.21. The race is named in honor of Jayeff "B" Stable's and Barry Weisbord's 1989 Eclipse Award Champion Sprinter and 1989 Columbia Stakes winner

Safely Kept Safely Kept (April 7, 1986 – April 22, 2014) was a Maryland-bred Bay thoroughbred filly sired by Horatius. Safely Kept began her career in 1988 and won 24 of her 31 starts over the next three years. Most of her runs were against colts and geld ...

in 1996. The race has been called several different titles beginning with Columbia Handicap (after a nearby town in Maryland) from 1986–1987, then the Columbia Stakes from 1989–1995. The race was at

Pimlico Race Course Pimlico Race Course is a thoroughbred horse racetrack in Baltimore, Maryland, most famous for hosting the Preakness Stakes. Its name is derived from the 1660s when English settlers named the area where the facility currently stands in honor of Ol ...

in Baltimore, Maryland and has been moved to back and forth from Laurel to Pimlico depending on dates that were assigned by the Maryland Racing Commission. The race was held at Pimlico in 1986–1987, 1989, and 1991–1996. The race was run at

Colonial Downs Colonial Downs is a Race track, racetrack located in New Kent County, Virginia adjacent to Interstate 64, halfway between Richmond, Virginia, Richmond and Williamsburg, Virginia, Williamsburg. The track conducted Thoroughbred flat racing and Standa ...

in New Kent, Virginia in 1997. The race was run at Laurel in 1988, 1990, 1998–2000 and from 2006 to present.2007 Maryland Jockey Club Media Guide, page 37 on March 3, 2007. The race was run at furlongs in 1987 and 1988. The Safely Kept Breeders' Cup Stakes was given Graded stakes status in 1990. On August 7, 2008 it was announced that the race would be on hiatus for 2008, the Maryland Jockey Club cited financial distress as the reason for the races' cancellation. The annual grading session of the American Graded Stakes Committee listed Safely Kept S. at Laurel Park not eligible for grading for 2010.

Records

Speed record: * 6 furlongs – 1:09.12 – Miss Indy Anna (1993) * 6.5 furlongs – 1:16.40 – Clever Power (1988) * 7 furlongs – 1:23.68 – Who's In Town (2014) Most wins by a horse: * No horse has won the Safely Kept Stakes more than once 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 –

Mario Pino Mario G. Pino (born September 8, 1961, in Wilmington, Delaware) is a retired jockey in American Thoroughbred horse racing. Raised on a farm, he began his riding career in 1978 at Delaware Park in Wilmington. Over the years, he has chosen to be b ...

(1996, 1997 & 1999) Most wins by a trainer: * 2 – Kiaran McLaughlin (2003 & 2004) Most wins by an owner: * 2 – H. Joseph Allen (1990 & 2003) * 2 – Robert E. Meyerhoff (1995 & 1998)

Winners of the "Safely Kept Stakes" since 1986

References

{{reflist
The 2007 Safely Kept Stakes at the NTRA

Laurel Park Racecourse
Graded stakes races in the United States Flat horse races for three-year-old fillies Laurel Park Racecourse Horse races in Maryland Recurring sporting events established in 1986 1986 establishments in Maryland

Records

Winners of the "Safely Kept Stakes" since 1986

See also

References