The 121st Kentucky Futurity, the final leg of the Trotting Triple Crown, will be raced with a revised format on Sunday, October 6, 2013 at the Red Mile.
The 'Futurity' has historically 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, stating that "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 Racetrack. 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 three-year-old filly trot and Nadia Lobell three-year-old 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 first-race post time of 7:00 p.m. through Saturday and a 1:00 matinee card on Sunday.
Week 2 is all afternoon racing at 1:00 p.m. led by the International Stallion Stakes for freshmen. The Tattersalls Pace and its filly companion stakes, the Glen Garnsey Memorial, will be raced on Saturday, October 5 and closing Sunday is Futurity day.
The Lexington Selected Yearling Sale at the Fasig-Tipton sales pavilion begins on Tuesday, October 1 and continues through Saturday.
Complete information on the racing schedule and stakes payments may be accessed by visiting the Red Mile website.
(The Red Mile)