The Derby City Distaff Stakes is a

Grade I In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

American

thoroughbred horse race Thoroughbred racing is a sport and industry involving the racing of Thoroughbred horses. It is governed by different national bodies. There are two forms of the sport – flat racing and jump racing, the latter known as National Hunt racing in ...

for

fillies A filly is a female horse that is too young to be called a mare. There are two specific definitions in use: *In most cases, a ''filly'' is a female horse under four years old. *In some nations, such as the United Kingdom and the United States, t ...

and mares aged three and older over a distance of seven

furlong A furlong is a measure of distance in imperial units and United States customary units equal to one eighth of a mile, equivalent to 660 feet, 220 yards, 40 rods, 10 chains or approximately 201 metres. It is now mostly confined to use in hor ...

s on the dirt held annually in early May on the Kentucky Derby day meeting at Churchill Downs in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

during the spring meeting. The current purse is $500,000.

History

The event was inaugurated on May 2, 1987 as the fifth race on the undercard of the Kentucky Derby day meeting as the Brown & Williamson Handicap sponsored by the tobacco company

Brown & Williamson Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corporation was a U.S. tobacco company and a subsidiary of multinational British American Tobacco that produced several popular cigarette brands. It became infamous as the focus of investigations for chemically enhanc ...

, which at the time had their headquarters in Louisville. The event was a Listed race until 1990 when it was upgraded to Grade III status. It was subsequently upgraded to a Grade II event in 1999 then to its present Grade I status in 2002. The event's name was changed in 1995 to the Humana Distaff Handicap, sponsored by

Humana Humana Inc. is a for-profit American health insurance company based in Louisville, Kentucky. In 2021, the company ranked 41 on the Fortune 500 list, which made it the highest ranked (by revenues) company based in Kentucky. It has been the thir ...

, an American health insurance company also based in Louisville, Kentucky. In 2007, the event was changed to the Humana Distaff Stakes, and is now run under allowance weight conditions. Humana last year of sponsorship was 2019, with Churchill Downs finding new sponsorship in 2020 with Derby City Gaming. The first five runnings of the event the winners were ridden by US Hall of Fame jockey

Pat Day Patrick Alan "Pat" Day (born October 13, 1953, in Brush, Colorado) is a retired American jockey. He is a four-time winner of the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Jockey and was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1991 a ...

. Pat Day won another two more runnings of this event before retiring in 2005. In 2015, Churchill Downs renamed the

Derby Trial The Pat Day Mile Stakes is a Grade II American Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds held on dirt over a distance of one mile scheduled on Kentucky Derby Day at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. The current purse is $500,000. Histo ...

in his honor as the Pat Day Mile which is held on the same day as this event. Of the more notable winners of this race include 2012 winner Groupie Doll who set a new track record at Churchill Downs for the 7 furlong distance in a time of 1:20.44 and would later that year win the

Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint The Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint is a 7-furlong (1408 m) Weight for Age stakes race for thoroughbred fillies and mares three years old and up. As its name implies, it is a part of the Breeders' Cup World Championships, the ''de facto'' year- ...

and be crowned the US Champion Female Sprint Horse.

Records

;Speed record * 1:20.44 – Groupie Doll (2012) ;Margins * lengths – Groupie Doll (2012) ;Most wins * No horse has won this race more than once. ;Most wins by a jockey * 7 –

(1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 2001, 2004) ;Most wins by a trainer * 2 – Claude R. McGaughey III (1991, 1994) * 2 –

Bob Baffert Robert A. Baffert (born January 13, 1953) is an American racehorse trainer who trained the 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah and 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify. Baffert's horses have won a record six Kentucky Derbies, seven Preakn ...

(2006, 2014) * 2 – Simon Callaghan (2016, 2018) Most wins by an owner: * 2 –

Juddmonte Farms Juddmonte Farms is a horse breeding farm, owned until his death on 12th January 2021 by Prince Khalid bin Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. National Thoroughbred Racing Association"Juddmonte Farms, Inc.", profile. Retrieved October 16, 2007. Overview ...

(2003, 2017) * 2 – Michael E. Pegram (2006, 2014)

Winners

''Notes:''
† In the 2002 running, Gold Mover won the race but was disqualified and placed second after stewards ruled she had bumped and interfered with Celtic Melody near the eighth pole.

References

{{reflist, 2 Grade 1 stakes races in the United States Flat horse races for four-year-old fillies Sprint category horse races for fillies and mares Recurring sporting events established in 1987 Churchill Downs horse races 1987 establishments in Kentucky

History

Records

Winners

See also

References