Alcibiades Stakes

Alcibiades Stakes
Grade I race
LocationKeeneland Race Course
Lexington, Kentucky, United States
Inaugurated1952
Race typeThoroughbredFlat racing
Websitewww.keeneland.com
Race information
Distance1+116 miles (8.5 furlongs)
SurfaceDirt
Trackleft-handed
QualificationTwo-year-old fillies
Weight1952–1978 :119 lbs
1979–present : 118 lbs
Purse$600,000

The Alcibiades Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually in early October at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Kentucky. A Grade I race, it is open to two-year-old fillies willing to race one and one-sixteenth miles on the dirt. Sponsored by Darley Racing since 2003, the Alcibiades Stakes was named for Hal Price Headley's great foundation mare Alcibiades.

The race is currently part of the Breeders' Cup Challenge series. The winner will automatically qualify for the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies.

The race obtained Graded stakes race status in 1973 and was a Grade III race through 1975, a Grade II from 1976 through 2006 and elevated in 2007 to Grade I status with a current purse of $600,000

Inaugurated in 1952 as a seven furlong race, from 1956 through 1980 it was run at seven furlongs, 184 feet. In 1981 it was changed to its present distances of 1+116 miles.

The Alcibiades Stakes was raced on dirt until 2006 when Keeneland Race Course installed the synthetic Polytrack surface. In 2014, the Polytrack was replaced by a new dirt surface.[1]

  1. ^ "Keeneland Debuts New Dirt Surface on Main Race Track". www.keeneland.com. Archived from the original on 2016-10-12. Retrieved 15 June 2016.