The Turf Classic Stakes is an American thoroughbred horse race run in early May at Churchill Downs open to horses three years old and up. It is raced on turf at a distance of one and one-eighth miles and currently offers a purse of $500,000.
Formerly known as the Early Times Turf Classic Stakes it is now sponsored by Woodford Reserve. A major springtime race, it has been a grade I event since 1998.
The 1987 inaugural running of the Early Times Turf Classic Stakes was won by the 1986 Breeders' Cup Turf winner, Manila.
Read more about Turf Classic Stakes: Records, Winners of The Turf Classic Stakes Since 1987, See Also
Famous quotes containing the words turf, classic and/or stakes:
“One turf shall serve as pillow for us both;
One heart, one bed, two bosoms, and one troth.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“One classic American landscape haunts all of American literature. It is a picture of Eden, perceived at the instant of history when corruption has just begun to set in. The serpent has shown his scaly head in the undergrowth. The apple gleams on the tree. The old drama of the Fall is ready to start all over again.”
—Jonathan Raban (b. 1942)
“This man was very clever and quick to learn anything in his line. Our tent was of a kind new to him; but when he had once seen it pitched, it was surprising how quickly he would find and prepare the pole and forked stakes to pitch it with, cutting and placing them right the first time, though I am sure that the majority of white men would have blundered several times.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)