American Turf Stakes

The American Turf Stakes is a Grade I American Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds run over a distance of 1+1⁄16 miles on turf held annually in early May on the Kentucky Derby day meeting at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky during the spring meeting.

American Turf Stakes

Class	Grade I
Location	Churchill Downs Louisville, Kentucky, United States
Inaugurated	1992
Race type	Thoroughbred - Flat racing
Sponsor	Ford (2025)
Website	Churchill Downs
Race information
Distance	1+1⁄16 miles
Surface	Turf
Track	Left-handed
Qualification	Three-year-olds
Weight	123lbs with allowances
Purse	$1,000,000 (2025)

History

The event was inaugurated on 2 May 1992 as the fourth race on the undercard of the Kentucky Derby day meeting. The event was won by Senor Tomas who run as a Peter Vestal trained entry with Correntino in a time of 1:43.10.^[1]

The event was sponsored by Crown Royal from 1995 to 1998 and more recently by Ram Trucks from 2011 to 2019.^[2]

The event was classified as Grade III in 1998.^[3] The American Graded Stakes Committee upgraded the race to its current Grade II status in 2010.^[2]

The most notable winner of the event is the 2004 winner Kitten's Joy who as a three-year-old went on to finish second in the Breeders' Cup Turf to Better Talk Now and was voted as the U.S. Champion Male Turf Horse. His offspring have won this event three times:^[3] Banned (2011), Divisidero (2015) and Camelot Kitten (2016).

From 2024, the winner of the race will receive a wildcard entry for the Epsom Derby.^[4]

In 2025 the event was upgraded by the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association to Grade I status.^[5]

Records

Speed record:

• 1+1⁄16 miles: 1:40.93 - Royal Strand (IRE) (1997)

Margins

• 4+1⁄2 lengths - Banned (2001)

Most wins by a jockey:

• 3 - Mike E. Smith (1992, 1994, 2017)
• 3 - Gary L. Stevens (1995, 1998, 2014)
• 3 - Jerry D. Bailey (1999, 2000, 2004)
• 3 - Garrett K. Gomez (2008, 2010, 2011)
• 3 - Javier Castellano (2005, 2013, 2023)
• 3 - Flavien Prat (2021, 2022, 2025)

Most wins by a trainer:

• 4 - Chad C. Brown (2013, 2016, 2019, 2025)

Most wins by an owner:

• 2 - Thomas Carey (1992, 1994)
• 2 - Kenneth and Sarah Ramsey (2008, 2011)
• 2 - Glen Hill Farm (2011, 2014)

Winners

Year	Winner	Jockey	Trainer	Owner	Distance	Time	Purse	Grade	Ref
2025	Zulu Kingdom (IRE)	Flavien Prat	Chad C. Brown	Madaket Stables, Michael Dubb, William Strauss & Michael J. Caruso	1+1⁄16 miles	1:41.64	$924,780	I	[6]
2024	Trikari	Umberto Rispoli	H. Graham Motion	Amerman Racing	1+1⁄16 miles	1:43.59	$596,560	II	[7]
2023	Webslinger	Javier Castellano	Mark E. Casse	D. J. Stable	1+1⁄16 miles	1:41.54	$500,000	II	[8]
2022	Stolen Base	Flavien Prat	Michael J. Maker	Three Diamonds Farm & Deuce Greathouse	1+1⁄16 miles	1:44.57	$500,000	II	[9]
2021	Du Jour	Flavien Prat	Bob Baffert	Debbie Lanni & Natalie J. Baffert	1+1⁄16 miles	1:42.49	$500,000	II	[10]
2020	Fancy Liquor	Florent Geroux	Michael J. Maker	SkyChai Racing & Sand Dollar Stable	1+1⁄16 miles	1:42.83	$500,000	II	[11]
2019	Digital Age (IRE)	Irad Ortiz Jr.	Chad C. Brown	Klaravich Stables	1+1⁄16 miles	1:44.63	$400,000	II	[12]
2018	Maraud	John R. Velazquez	Todd A. Pletcher	Treadway Racing Stable	1+1⁄16 miles	1:47.52	$300,000	II	[13]
2017	Arklow	Mike E. Smith	Brad H. Cox	Donegal Racing	1+1⁄16 miles	1:44.45	$300,000	II	[14]
2016	Camelot Kitten	Irad Ortiz Jr.	Chad C. Brown	Kenneth and Sarah Ramsey	1+1⁄16 miles	1:41.13	$300,000	II	[15]
2015	Divisidero	Rafael Manuel Hernandez	William B. Bradley	Gunpowder Farms	1+1⁄16 miles	1:41.59	$250,000	II	[16]
2014	Global View	Gary L. Stevens	Thomas F. Proctor	Glen Hill Farm	1+1⁄16 miles	1:41.65	$294,500	II	[17]
2013	Noble Tune	Javier Castellano	Chad C. Brown	Martin S. Schwartz & Dell Ridge Farm	1+1⁄16 miles	1:41.63	$234,200	II	[18]
2012	Silver Max	Rafael Bejarano	Dale L. Romans	Mark Bacon & Dana Wells	1+1⁄16 miles	1:41.10	$238,200	II	[19]
2011	Banned	Garrett K. Gomez	Thomas F. Proctor	Glen Hill Farm	1+1⁄16 miles	1:42.05	$237,400	II	[20]
2010	Doubles Partner	Garrett K. Gomez	Todd A. Pletcher	WinStar Farm	1+1⁄16 miles	1:41.05	$200,550	II	[21]
2009	Orthodox	Jon Court	John Glenney	Kim and John Glenney	1+1⁄16 miles	1:44.37	$170,400	III	[22]
2008	Tizdejavu	Garrett K. Gomez	Gregory Fox	Michael L Cooper & Pamela C. Ziebarth	1+1⁄16 miles	1:46.14	$181,950	III	[23]
2007	Duveen	Mark Guidry	Dale L. Romans	Andrew Farm	1+1⁄16 miles	1:44.03	$188,700	III	[24]
2006	Stream Cat	Julien R. Leparoux	Patrick L. Biancone	Fab Oak Stable, Robert M. Hurley & John F. Goldthorp	1+1⁄16 miles	1:42.27	$114,300	III	[25]
2005	Rey de Cafe	Javier Castellano	George R. Arnold II	G. Watts Humphrey Jr.	1+1⁄16 miles	1:42.00	$114,700	III	[26]
2004	Kitten's Joy	Jerry D. Bailey	Dale L. Romans	Kenneth and Sarah Ramsey	1+1⁄16 miles	1:43.21	$113,800	III	[27]
2003	Senor Swinger	Pat Day	Bob Baffert	Robert B. & Beverly Lewis	1+1⁄16 miles	1:41.38	$121,400	III	[28]
2002	Legislator	Edgar S. Prado	H. James Bond	Judy E. Turetsky	1+1⁄16 miles	1:44.43	$116,300	III	[29]
2001	Strategic Partner	John R. Velazquez	Mark A. Hennig	Lee Lewis	1+1⁄16 miles	1:42.89	$117,900	III	[30]
2000	King Cugat	Jerry D. Bailey	William I. Mott	Centennial Farms	1+1⁄16 miles	1:41.25	$118,100	III	[31]
1999	Air Rocket	Jerry D. Bailey	Robert E. Holthus	Frank Fletcher & Dan Jones	1+1⁄16 miles	1:42.65	$115,400	III	[32]
1998	Dernier Croise (FR)	Gary L. Stevens	Thomas M. Amoss	Richard Colton Jr.	1+1⁄16 miles	1:44.28	$126,000	III	[33]
1997	Royal Strand (IRE)	Pat Day	W. Elliott Walden	James H. Stone	1+1⁄16 miles	1:40.93	$115,800	Listed	[34]
1996	Broadway Beau	Chris McCarron	W. Elliott Walden	George De Benedicty & Dr. Brian Davidson	1+1⁄16 miles	1:41.87	$117,500	Listed	[35]
1995	Unanimous Vote (IRE)	Gary L. Stevens	Thomas M. Amoss	Robert Sabinske	1+1⁄16 miles	1:42.07	$118,000	Listed	[36]
1994	Jaggery John	Mike E. Smith	Peter M. Vestal	Thomas M. Carey	1+1⁄16 miles	1:45.05	$86,850	Listed	[37]
1993	† Desert Waves	Shane Sellers	James E. Day	Sam Son Farm	1+1⁄16 miles	1:42.64	$56,350	Listed	[38]
1992	§ Senor Tomas	Mike E. Smith	Peter M. Vestal	Thomas M. Carey	1+1⁄16 miles	1:43.10	$57,600	Listed	[1]

Notes:
§ Ran as an entry
† In the 1993 running Compadre was first past the post but hung in the straight causing interference to the second-place finisher Desert Waves and was disqualified and placed second.

See also

• List of American and Canadian Graded races

External links

• 2023 Churchill Downs Media Guide - $500,000 American Turf presented by BMW (Grade II)