Kentucky Downs' 2025 meet will feature 18 stakes offering a total of $30.5 million in purses, led by the $3.5 million Nashville Derby (G3T). Another 10 stakes are worth at least $2 million.
The stakes are worth a combined $16 million in base purses, with another $14.5 million from the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund for registered Kentucky-breds. Even horses not bred in Kentucky will run for some of the biggest stakes purses in the country. For instance, the Nashville Derby has a base purse of $2 million, for which every horse runs, while 10 other stakes worth $2.5 million or $2 million for Kentucky-breds carry a $1 million base purse.
Kentucky Downs' seven-day meet runs Aug. 28, 30, 31 and Sept. 4, 6, 7, and 10, with maiden and allowance races also among the highest in the world. The condition book is now online at Equibase.
The 1 5/16-mile Nashville Derby again will be America's richest race for 3-year-olds behind only the $5 million Kentucky Derby (G1).
The Nashville Derby will be one of five stakes Aug. 30, which will feature live coverage on NBC (the mothership, not a cable subsidiary). The card includes the $2 million Kentucky Downs Turf Sprint (G2T), which is part of the Breeders' Cup Challenge series and grants the winner a fees-paid berth in the $1 million Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G1T) at Del Mar Nov. 1. Also that day: the $2 million Kentucky Downs Ladies Turf Sprint (G2T), $2 million Kentucky Downs Ladies Turf (G3T) and the $1 million Bowling Green Gold Cup Invitational at 2 1/16 miles.
The Sept. 6 card will feature six stakes each worth at least $2 million for Kentucky-breds, with the Kentucky Turf Cup Invitational (G2T) and the Mint Millions Invitational (G3T) both $2.5 million. The winner of the 1 1/2-mile Turf Cup earns a fees-paid berth in the $5 million Breeders' Cup Turf (G1T). The Sept. 6 card also includes the Franklin-Simpson Stakes (G1T) for 3-year-old sprinters, the Music City Stakes (G2T) for 3-year-old filly sprinters, the Kentucky Downs Ladies Marathon (G3T) and the mile Gun Runner Stakes for 3-year-olds.
Another five stakes are worth $1 million with KTDF supplements, including four stakes for 2-year-olds.
