Wise Dan Stakes

The Wise Dan Stakes is a Grade II American thoroughbred horse race for horses four-year-old and older run at a distance of one and one sixteenth of a mile on the turf held annually in June at Churchill Downs racetrack in Louisville, Kentucky.

Wise Dan Stakes

Class	Grade II
Location	Churchill Downs Louisville, Kentucky, United States
Inaugurated	1983 (as Firecracker Handicap)
Race type	Thoroughbred - Flat racing
Website	Churchill Downs
Race information
Distance	1+1⁄16 miles
Surface	Turf
Track	Left-handed
Qualification	Four-year-olds and older
Weight	123 lbs. with allowances
Purse	$500,000 (2024)

History

The event was inaugurated on 4 July 1983 as the Firecracker Handicap over a distance of 7 furlongs on a sloppy dirt track and was won by Shot n' Missed who defeated the odds on favorite Dave's Friend in a five horse field.^[1] In the third running in 1985 the winner Rapid Gray set a new track record for the distance in a time of 1:211⁄5.^[2] The event was discontinued for seven years and when it was revived in 1993 it was held on the turf course over a distance of one mile.^[3]

The event was classified as Grade III in 1995, and upgraded to Grade II in 2002.^[3]

The event attracted several champion turf runners including Kitten's Joy who won the event in 2004 and later that year became U.S. Champion Male Turf Horse and Miesque's Approval who won this event in 2006 and later that year would capture the Breeders' Cup Mile.

The only duel winner was Wise Dan of this event who in 2011 won in his turf debut and 2013.^[4] Later in 2013 Wise Dan was crowned American Horse of the Year for the second year running.

The race was renamed as the Wise Dan Stakes in 2016^[5]

The distance was increased from 1 mile to 1+1⁄16 miles also in 2016.^[5]

The race was placed on hiatus in June 2022 due to the suspension of turf racing at Churchill Downs.^[6]

In 2023 the event was moved to Ellis Park after Churchill Downs closed their spring meeting earlier due to a spate of injuries.^[7]

Records

Speed records

• 1+1⁄16 miles: 1:40.26 – Kasaqui (ARG) (2017)
• 1 mile: 1:33.78 – Jaggery John (1995)
• 7 furlongs: 1:21.20 – Rapid Gray (1985)

Margins

• 3+1⁄2 lengths – Soviet Line (IRE) (1997)

Most wins

• 2 – Wise Dan (2011, 2013)

Most wins by a jockey

• 2 – Robby Albarado (1999, 2014)
• 2 – Kent J. Desormeaux (2008, 2009)
• 2 – Shane Sellers (2000, 2004)
• 2 – Pat Day (1997, 2002)
• 2 – Florent Geroux (2018, 2021)

Most wins by a trainer

• 4 – Dale L. Romans (2003, 2004, 2008, 2014)

Most wins by an owner

• 2 – Mason Rudd (1994, 1996)
• 2 – Gainsborough Farm (1997, 2001)
• 2 – Live Oak Plantation (2006, 2019)

Winners

Year	Winner	Age	Jockey	Trainer	Owner	Distance	Time	Purse	Grade	Ref
At Churchill Downs – Wise Dan Stakes
2025	Brilliant Berti	4	Brian Hernandez Jr.	Cherie DeVaux	Klein Racing	1+1⁄16 miles	1:43.41	$499,250	II	[8]
2024	Ottoman Fleet (GB)	5	Flavien Prat	Charlie Appleby	Godolphin Racing	1+1⁄16 miles	1:41.26	$465,000	II	[9]
At Ellis Park
2023	Stitched	4	Flavien Prat	Gregory Foley	Nathan McCauley, Michael W. Olszewski & William J. Minton	1+1⁄16 miles	1:40.97	$395,000	II	[10]
At Churchill Downs
2022	Race not held[6]
2021	Set Piece (GB)	5	Florent Geroux	Brad H. Cox	Juddmonte Farms	1+1⁄16 miles	1:40.50	$300,000	II	[11]
2020	Factor This	5	Shaun Bridgmohan	Brad H. Cox	Gaining Ground Racing	1+1⁄16 miles	1:41.15	$200,000	II	[12]
2019	March to the Arch	4	Tyler Gaffalione	Mark E. Casse	Live Oak Plantation	1+1⁄16 miles	1:40.58	$250,000	II	[13]
2018	Mr. Misunderstood	4	Florent Geroux	Brad H. Cox	Flurry Racing Stables, LLC (Staton Flurry)	1+1⁄16 miles	1:41.83	$200,000	II	[14]
2017	Kasaqui (ARG)	7	James Graham	Ignacio Correas IV	Wimborne Farm (Diane Perkins)	1+1⁄16 miles	1:40.26	$200,000	II	[15]
2016	Pleuven (FR)	5	Channing Hill	Philip A. Sims	Nelson McMakin	1+1⁄16 miles	1:40.96	$200,000	II	[16]
Firecracker Stakes
2015	Departing	5	Miguel Mena	Albert Stall Jr.	Claiborne Farm & Adele B. Dilschneider	1 mile	1:38.16	$200,000	II	[17]
2014	Silver Max	5	Robby Albarado	Dale L. Romans	Mark Bacon & Dana Wells	1 mile	1:34.21	$224,800	II	[18]
Firecracker Handicap
2013	Wise Dan	6	John R. Velazquez	Charles LoPresti	Morton Fink	1 mile	1:39.82	$168,450	II	[19]
2012	Guys Reward	5	Corey J. Lanerie	Dale L. Romans	Michael J. Bruder	1 mile	1:38.46	$165,900	II	[20]
2011	Wise Dan	4	Jon Court	Charles LoPresti	Morton Fink	1 mile	1:34.59	$203,000	II	[21]
2010	Tizdejavu	5	Jesus Lopez Castanon	Gregory Fox	Michael L Cooper & Pamela C. Ziebart	1 mile	1:35.98	$205,625	II	[22]
2009	Mr. Sidney	5	Kent J. Desormeaux	William I. Mott	Circle E Racing (Lee Einsidler)	1 mile	1:37.28	$167,700	II	[23]
2008	Thorn Song	5	Kent J. Desormeaux	Dale L. Romans	Zayat Stables	1 mile	1:36.89	$213,250	II	[24]
2007	Remarkable News (VEN)	5	Ramon A. Dominguez	Angel A. Penna Jr.	Holly Rincon	1 mile	1:34.74	$232,000	II	[25]
2006	Miesque's Approval	7	Eddie Castro	Martin D. Wolfson	Live Oak Plantation (Charlotte C. Weber)	1 mile	1:34.52	$269,500	II	[26]
2005	Kitten's Joy	4	Edgar S. Prado	Dale L. Romans	Kenneth and Sarah Ramsey	1 mile	1:35.25	$274,000	II	[27]
2004	Quantum Merit	5	Shane Sellers	Del W. Carroll II	Very Un Stable & Joseph Gioia	1 mile	1:34.15	$287,750	II	[28]
2003	Tap the Admiral	5	John McKee	Del W. Carroll II	Stanley Ettinger	1 mile	1:35.48	$288,500	II	[29]
2002	Good Journey	6	Pat Day	Wallace Dollase	Flaxman Holdings, Jarvis Margolis et al.	1 mile	1:34.83	$292,500	II	[30]
2001	Irish Prize	5	Gary L. Stevens	Neil D. Drysdale	Gainsborough Farm	1 mile	1:34.68	$276,000	II	[31]
2000	Conserve	4	Shane Sellers	Frank L. Brothers	Claiborne Farm	1 mile	1:35.12	$287,000	II	[32]
1999	Joe Who (BRZ)	4	Robby Albarado	Bob Baffert	James E. Helzer	1 mile	1:36.78	$238,750	III	[33]
1998	Claire's Honor	4	Anthony J. D'Amico	Michael A. Tammaro	Mereworth Farm	1 mile	1:35.93	$286,500	III	[34]
1997	Soviet Line (IRE)	7	Pat Day	Kiaran P. McLaughlin	Gainsborough Farm	1 mile	1:37.67	$203,350	III	[35]
1996	Rare Reason	5	Patrick A. Johnson	Walter M. Bindner Jr.	Mason C. Rudd	1 mile	1:33.81	$203,000	III	[36]
1995	Jaggery John	4	Dean Kutz	Peter M. Vestal	Tom M. Carey	1 mile	1:33.78	$114,400	III	[37]
1994	First and Only	7	Tracy J. Hebert	Walter M. Bindner Jr.	Mason C. Rudd	1 mile	1:35.33	$113,200	Listed	[38]
1993	Cleone	4	Craig Perret	William I. Mott	Allen E. Paulson	1 mile	1:35.90	$115,100	Listed	[39]
1986–1992		Race not held
1985	Rapid Gray	4	Larry Melancon	William I. Mott	William F. Lucas	7 furlongs	1:21.20	$54,250		[2]
1984	Turn and Cheer	7	James McKnight	A. J. Foyt III	A. J. Foyt Jr.	7 furlongs	1:25.60	$55,250		[40]
1983	Shot n' Missed	6	Leroy Moyers	Brenda Wilson	William F. Lucas	7 furlongs	1:23.20	$44,800		[1]

Legend:
  Turf   Dirt

See also

List of American and Canadian Graded races