Penn Mile Stakes

The Penn Mile Stakes is a Grade III American Thoroughbred horse race for horses aged three years old, held over a distance of one mile on the turf annually in late May or early June at Penn National Race Course at 7:30pm EST, Grantville, Pennsylvania. The event currently carries a purse of $400,000.

Penn Mile Stakes

Class	Grade III
Location	Penn National Race Course Grantville, Pennsylvania, USA
Inaugurated	2013
Race type	Thoroughbred - Flat racing
Website	Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course
Race information
Distance	1 mile (8 furlongs)
Surface	Turf
Track	Left-handed
Qualification	Three-year-olds
Weight	122 lbs. with allowances
Purse	$400,000 (since 2022)

History

With the influx of additional funds from the Penn National Race Course turning itself to a Racino the club ventured in adding higher stakes races. The race was inaugurated in 2013^[1] with a stakes purse of $500,000.^[2]

In 2015 the event was classified as Grade III and in 2017 was upgraded to Grade II.^[2]

The event in 2020 was not held due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States with Penn National closed when the event was to be scheduled. ^[3]

Due to weather conditions and the state of the track the 2021 running was moved to the dirt and the event was downgraded to Grade III.^[4]

In 2024 the event was downgraded by the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association to Grade III status.^[5]

Records

Speed record:

• 1:33.99 – Rydilluc (2013)

Largest margin of victory:

• 3 lengths – Hawkish (2018)

Most wins by a jockey:

• 2 – Irad Ortiz Jr. (2017, 2023)
• 2 – Javier Castellano (2014, 2025)

Most wins by a trainer:

• 3 – Mark E. Casse (2016, 2019, 2025)

Most wins by an owner:

• No owner has won this race more than once.

Winners

Year	Winner	Jockey	Trainer	Owner	Time	Purse	Grade
2025	Dream On	Javier Castellano	Mark E. Casse	D. J. Stable	1:35.62	$400,000	III	[6]
2024	First World War	Frankie Dettori	Brenden P. Walsh	Qatar Racing & Hunter Valley Farm	1:33.50	$400,000	III	[7]
2023	Major Dude	Irad Ortiz Jr.	Todd A. Pletcher	Spendthrift Farm	1:33.73	$400,000	II	[8]
2022	Wow Whata Summer	Tyler Conner	James L. Lawrence II	Jeremy Brooks	1:42.39	$400,000	II	[9]
2021	Gershwin	Joe Bravo	Michael Stidham	Godolphin Racing	1:39.24	$300,000	III	[10]
2020	Race not held
2019	Moon Colony	Julien R. Leparoux	Mark E. Casse	John C. Oxley	1:37.45	$500,000	II	[11]
2018	Hawkish	Manuel Franco	James J. Toner	Robert LaPenta, A.J. Suited Racing, Madaket Stables	1:35.16	$500,000	II	[12]
2017	Frostmourne	Irad Ortiz Jr.	Christophe Clement	Green Lantern Stables	1:35.04	$500,000	II	[13]
2016	Catch a Glimpse	Florent Geroux	Mark E. Casse	Gary Barber, Michael James Ambler, Jeffrey Begg	1:34.39	$500,000	III	[14]
2015	Force the Pass	Joel Rosario	Alan E. Goldberg	Colts Neck Stables	1:34.03	$500,000	III	[15]
2014	Bobby's Kitten	Javier Castellano	Chad C. Brown	Kenneth & Sarah Ramsey	1:35.82	$500,000	Listed	[16]
2013	Rydilluc	Edgar S. Prado	Gary C. Contessa	Team Stallion Racing Stable	1:33.99	$500,000	Listed	[17]

Legend:
  Dirt   Turf

See also

• List of American and Canadian Graded races