Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash Stakes
| Grade III race | |
| Location |
Laurel Park Racecourse, Laurel, Maryland,  United States 
|
|---|---|
| Inaugurated | 1990 |
| Race type | Thoroughbred - Flat racing |
| Website | www |
| Race information | |
| Distance | 6 furlong sprint |
| Surface | Dirt |
| Track | left-handed |
| Qualification | Three-year-olds & up |
| Weight | Assigned |
| Purse | $350,000 |
The Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Laurel Park Racecourse in Laurel, Maryland. Open to horses aged three and older, it is competed on dirt over a distance of six furlongs. Once run during the end of September, it currently offers a purse of $350,000. It was announced by Laurel Park that the famed race would be restored in 2011 and run on October 22 at 6 furlongs.
The Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash is one of the elite sprints in the country. Until 2010, it was one of the only two six-furlong contests with Grade I status, it is second only to the Breeders' Cup Sprint in purse money and prestige. Beginning in 2010, the American Graded Stakes Committee of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association downgraded the Dash to a Grade II status. The race was not eligible for grading in 2011.
On December 3, 2015, the Maryland Jockey Club announced that this race, which lost its grading when it wasn't run in 2008 and 2010, has been upgraded to grade III for 2016 by the American Graded Stakes Committee.
The De Francis, first contested in 1990, has played host to champions Housebuster, Safely Kept, and Cherokee Run.
The inaugural De Francis Dash attracted the nation's finest sprinters to Pimlico Race Course in the summer of 1990. Included in the spectacular field were 1989 Sprint Champion Safely Kept and top sprinters Glitterman and Sewickley. But at the wire, in a fitting tribute to the late Mr. De Francis, it was Maryland-bred, Maryland-based Northern Wolf in a track record-setting time of 1:09.
The Dash moved to Laurel for its second running. The distinguished field included two champions; Safely Kept and Housebuster as well as leading sprinters Clever Trevor and Sunny Blossom. Housebuster captured the winner's share of the lucrative purse with a five length victory. He was named Eclipse Award Sprint Champion for the second year in a row.
During the next nine years while the Dash reigned as Laurel Park's signature summer event, it was captured by two additional Sprint Champions: Cherokee Run (1994) and Smoke Glacken (1997).
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