Eight Things to Know About the 2019 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes

Thanksgiving weekend is highlighted by a smorgasbord of great racing each year including the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes, a race for 2-year-olds who have an eye on the Triple Crown.

Read on for eight fun facts about this year’s edition slated for Saturday, Nov. 30.

1. The race is contested at 1 1/16 miles on the Churchill Downs dirt, the same surface the Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve is run on in May.

2. The Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes was first run in 1920 and named after the group that ran Churchill Downs at the time.

3. This year’s race offers 17 qualifying points for the 2020 Kentucky Derby: 10 for the winner, four for the runner-up, two for third place, and one for fourth.

4. Expected 2019 favorite Tiz the Law has never raced at Churchill Downs, but his owners Sackatoga Stable and trainer Barclay Tagg won the 2003 Kentucky Derby there with Funny Cide.

5. Seven Kentucky Jockey Club runners later won the Kentucky Derby: Behave Yourself (1921 Derby winner), Reigh Count (1928), Clyde Van Dusen (1929), Twenty Grand (1931), Cannonade (1974), Real Quiet (1998), and Super Saver (2010).

6. In the last five years, 18 future graded stakes winners ran in the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes. Included among the also-rans are eventual Grade 1 victors Lord Nelson, Mor Spirit, Gun Runner, and Promises Fulfilled.

7. The betting favorite has won the race just three times in the last 10 years. The longest price to win in that time frame is El Kabeir at 7.30-1 in 2014.

8. Since 1980, a total of 51 Kentucky Derby runners raced in the Kentucky Jockey Club as 2-year-olds, an average of 1.3 each year, so there’s a good chance a Derby runner will race on Saturday.   

* For a closer look at the contenders for the 2019 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes - CLICK HERE