The 121st Kentucky Futurity, final leg of trotting's Triple Crown, will be raced with a
revised format on Sunday, October 6, 2013 at The Red Mile.
Historically the Futurity has been raced in the
"heat" format with a race off (third heat) sometimes required to
determine the winner. This fall, the Futurity will be converted to
elimination races and a final on the same afternoon, with the winner of the
final being the Futurity champion.
Red Mile Director
George Segal explained the thinking behind this decision, "Eliminating the
possibility of a third race in the same afternoon has been done with the
welfare of the horses in mind.
"The
Breeders Crown races come directly after The Red Mile Grand Circuit this year
and we recognized the need for an immediate adjustment to the Futurity format."
There are a few more changes to Red Mile Grand Circuit
events this fall. The Allerage Farms Free For All (FFA) open races will return
to the elimination and final format to facilitate their inclusion as a leg of
the new FFA series at The Meadowlands. The open events will race their
eliminations (if necessary) on Sunday, September 29 and return for the finals
on October 6. The Allerage Farms mare races will have no eliminations and will
be raced on the October 6 card as well.
The Moni Maker 3YO filly trot and Nadia Lobell 3YO filly
pace will be raced on Saturday, November 30 as part of the fall meet at The
Meadowlands. The payments for those races have been reduced slightly
and reschedule to require a nomination fee of $1,500 due March 15 and a $2,000
sustaining payment due April 15.
The Red Mile 2013 Grand Circuit meet begins on Thursday,
September 26 featuring the Bluegrass Series events with an evening post time of
7:00pm through Saturday and a 1:00 matinee card on Sunday.
Week two is all afternoon racing at 1:00pm led
by the International Stallion Stakes for freshmen. The Tattersalls Pace
and its filly companion stake, the Glen Garnsey Memorial, will be raced on
Saturday, October 5th and closing Sunday is Futurity day.
The Lexington Selected Yearling Sale at the Fasig-Tipton
sales pavilion begins on Tuesday, October 1st and continues through Saturday.
Complete information on the racing schedule and stakes
payments may be accessed by visiting The Red Mile website.
