The Forerunner Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually during the third week of April at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Kentucky. Open to three-year-old horses, it is contested on turf over a distance of one and one-eighth miles (9 furlongs).
Inaugurated in 1950, the Forerunner Stakes was raced on dirt through 1988. Run at a distance of seven furlongs from 1950 through 1985, from 1986 through 1988 it was contested at 1 1/ miles. During this era, many of the top three-year-olds won this race. Your Host, sire of Kelso, won the first running in 1950. He was followed by other notable winners such as Fabius (1956), Iron Liege (1957), Tim Tam (1958), Tomy Lee, (1959), Tompion (1960), Four-and-Twenty (1961), Never Bend (1963), Hill Rise (1964), Ack Ack (1969), Elocutionist (1976), Devil's Bag (1984), and on grass, Izvestia (1990).
The race was shifted permanently to the turf in 1989 and set at a distance of 1⅛ miles.
A Listed race in 1986 and 1987, it was upgraded to a Grade III event in 1988 but was downgraded to listed status again in 1999.
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—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)