Derby Trial
| Grade III race | |
| Location |
Churchill Downs Louisville, Kentucky, United States |
|---|---|
| Inaugurated | 1924 as the Derby Trial Stakes |
| Race type | Thoroughbred - Flat racing |
| Website | www |
| Race information | |
| Distance | 1 mile |
| Surface | Dirt |
| Track | left-handed |
| Qualification | three-year-olds |
| Weight | Assigned |
| Purse | US$250,000 (2017) |
The Pat Day Mile Stakes is an American Grade 3 Thoroughbred horse race held on Kentucky Derby day run at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky for three-year-olds willing to race one mile on the dirt. The current purse is $250,000 for the event.
Originally the event was known as Derby Trial Stakes and it was held one week before the Kentucky Derby, and first run in 1924 and every year since, with the exception of 1928.
The race name was given similar to races in Britain which preceded the Epsom Derby such as the Investec Derby Trial and Lingfield Derby Trial and in Australia, the Geelong Derby Trail Stakes (now known as the Geelong Classic).
In 2015, this race was renamed to the Pat Day Mile Stakes (in honor of the Hall of Fame jockey, Pat Day) and moved to the undercard of Kentucky Derby day. It's purse was increased from $150,000 to $200,000. In 2016, the purse was raised to $250,000.
From 2010 through 2012, it had been named the Cliff's Edge Derby Trial.
The distance was reduced between 1977 and 1981 to 7 furlongs. And once again the distance from 2007 to 2009 was 7 1⁄2 furlongs. The Derby Trial Stakes was an ungraded event from 2006 to 2008.
Four trainers have won the Derby Trial and the Kentucky Derby with the same horse. The feat was accomplished by Hanley Webb in 1924 with Black Gold and by Ben A. Jones who did it twice, first with the great Citation in 1948 and then with Hill Gail in 1952. Eddie Hayward won both in 1953 with Dark Star and in 1958 Jimmy Jones, son of Ben, became the fourth and last to do it when he won the two races with Tim Tam. Since Tim Tam, the gradual trend in training has been toward giving Derby contenders fewer prep races and more time between them. This practice has all but eliminated the Trial as a legitimate Derby prep race. Even the 1982 decision to move it from the Tuesday before the Derby to the Saturday before didn't help.
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