AGSC: PA Derby up to G1; Wood, Blue Grass down to G2
 

TOBA Announces U.S. Graded and Listed Stakes for 2017

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The American Graded Stakes Committee of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association today presented its listing of U.S. Graded and Listed Stakes Races for 2017, the results of its annual grading session conducted November 30 in Lexington.

The Committee reviewed 790 unrestricted U.S. stakes races with a purse of at least $75,000, and assigned Graded status to 464 of them, the same as were graded in 2016, and Listed status to 172 races. Five Graded races were upgraded; eight new Grade III races were named; 23 new Listed races were upgraded from non-Listed Black Type status. Fourteen races which carried Graded or Listed status in 2016 are no longer eligible for grading.

One race was upgraded to Grade I status for 2017: the Pennsylvania Derby at Parx Racing.

Three races were downgraded from Grade I to Grade II for 2017: the Wood Memorial S. at Aqueduct, Mother Goose S. at Belmont Park and Toyota Blue Grass S. at Keeneland.

Four races were upgraded to Grade II status for 2017: the Knickerbocker S. and Belmont Sprint Championship S. at Belmont Park, Woodford S. at Keeneland and Penn Mile S. at Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course.

Ten races were downgraded from Grade II to Grade III in 2017: the Peter Pan S. at Belmont Park, Smile Sprint S. at Gulfstream Park, Indiana Derby and Indiana Oaks at Indiana Grand, Commonwealth Derby at Laurel Park, Los Alamitos Derby at Los Alamitos Race Course, Monmouth Cup S. at Monmouth Park, West Virginia Derby at Mountaineer Park and Lake George S. and With Anticipation S. at Saratoga.

Eight races were upgraded to Grade III status for 2017: the Belmont Gold Cup Invitational S., Intercontinental S. and Wonder Again S. at Belmont Park, Lukas Classic S. at Churchill Downs, Kentucky Downs Ladies Turf S. and Kentucky Downs Turf Sprint S. at Kentucky Downs, Desert Stormer II S. at Santa Anita Park and Ohio Derby at JACK Thistledown Racino.

Four races were downgraded from Grade III to Listed status for 2017: the Arlington-Washington Futurity at Arlington Park, Old Hat S. at Gulfstream Park and Boiling Springs S. and Jersey Shore S. at Monmouth Park.

Twenty-three races were upgraded to Listed status for 2017: the Garland of Roses S. and Heavenly Prize Invitational S. at Aqueduct, Chelsey Flower S., Elusive Quality S., License Fee S., Memories of Silver S., Soaring Softly S., Temperence Hill Invitational S. and Wild Applause S. at Belmont Park, Open Mind S. at Churchill Downs, Sanibel Island H. and Tropical Park Derby at Gulfstream Park, Dueling Grounds Derby and Exacta Systems Juvenile Fillies S. at Kentucky Downs, Safely Kept S. at Laurel Park, American Beauty S., Bachelor S. and Spring Fever S. at Oaklawn Park, Astra S., Mizdirection S. and Pasadena S. at Santa Anita Park, Smart N Fancy S. at Saratoga and Zia Park Oaks at Zia Park.

Ten races were downgraded from Listed to non-Listed Black Type status for 2017: the Sugar Maple S. and Wild and Wonderful S. at Charles Town, Alcatraz S. at Golden Gate Fields, Happy Ticket S. at Louisiana Downs, Mountaineer Juvenile S. at Mountaineer Park, Northern Spur S. at Oaklawn Park, My Juliet S. and Jostle S. at Parx Racing, Edward J. Debartolo Memorial S. at Remington Park and M2 Technology La Senorita S. at Retama Park.

The Arlington Oaks, Arlington Sprint S. and Washington Park H. at Arlington Park; Sweet and Sassy S. at Delaware Park; Memorial H. at Gulfstream Park; Hawthorne Derby at Hawthorne Race Course; Los Alamitos Mile S. at Los Alamitos Race Course; Mountaineer Mile S. at Mountaineer Park; Cornucopia S. and Auld Lang Syne S. at Parx Racing; Inaugural S. and Windward S. at Presque Isle Downs; and American Beauty S. and Strub S. at Santa Anita Park were not eligible for grading in 2017.

Following is a summary breakdown of all grade levels and a complete list of all upgraded and downgraded U.S. races for the 2017 racing season as well as the complete list of 2017 Graded and Listed stakes.


2017 Graded Stakes Number % Graded %Eligible Change from 2016
Grade I 107 23.1% -2
Grade II 128 27.6% -5
Grade III 229 49.4% +7
All Graded 464 58.7%
Listed 172 21.8%
Non-Listed Eligible 154 19.5%
All Gr., L & NLE Races 790


Summary of Decisions Made at November 30, 2016 Grading Session

RACES UPGRADED FOR 2017:

Two-Year-Old Fillies
Chelsey Flower S. (T) (Belmont Park) non-Listed Black Type to Listed
Exacta Systems Juvenile Fillies S. (T) (Kentucky Downs) non-Listed Black Type to Listed

Three-Year-Old Fillies
Wonder Again S. (T) (Belmont Park) Listed to Grade III
Zia Park Oaks (Zia Park) non-Listed Black Type to Listed
Wild Applause S. (T) (Belmont Park) non-Listed Black Type to Listed
Memories of Silver S. (T) (Belmont Park) non-Listed Black Type to Listed
Sanibel Island H. (T) (Gulfstream Park) non-Listed Black Type to Listed
Soaring Softly S. (T) (Belmont Park) non-Listed Black Type to Listed
Safely Kept S. (Laurel Park) non-Listed Black Type to Listed

Older Fillies and Mares
Kentucky Downs Ladies Turf S. (T) (Kentucky Downs) Listed to Grade III
Intercontinental S. (T) (Belmont Park) Listed to Grade III
Desert Stormer II S. (Santa Anita Park) Listed to Grade III
Heavenly Prize Invitational S. (Aqueduct) non-Listed Black Type to Listed
Astra S. (T) (Santa Anita Park) non-Listed Black Type to Listed
Mizdirection S. (T) (Santa Anita Park) non-Listed Black Type to Listed
Open Mind S. (Churchill Downs) non-Listed Black Type to Listed
Smart N Fancy S. (T) (Saratoga) non-Listed Black Type to Listed
Garland of Roses S. (Aqueduct) non-Listed Black Type to Listed
American Beauty S. (Oaklawn Park) non-Listed Black Type to Listed
License Fee S. (T) (Belmont Park) non-Listed Black Type to Listed
Spring Fever S. (Oaklawn Park) non-Listed Black Type to Listed

Two-Year-Olds
None

Three-Year-Olds
Pennsylvania Derby (Parx Racing) Grade II to Grade I
Penn Mile S. (T) (Penn National) Grade III to Grade II
Ohio Derby (JACK Thistledown) Listed to Grade III
Tropical Park Derby (T) (Gulfstream Park) non-Listed Black Type to Listed
Dueling Grounds Derby (T) (Kentucky Downs) non-Listed Black Type to Listed
Pasadena S. (T) (Santa Anita Park) non-Listed Black Type to Listed
Bachelor S. (Oaklawn Park) non-Listed Black Type to Listed

Older Horses
Knickerbocker S. (T) (Belmont Park) Grade III to Grade II
Belmont Park Sprint Championship S. (Belmont Park) Grade III to Grade II
Woodford S. (T) (Keeneland) Grade III to Grade II
Lukas Classic S. (Churchill Downs) Listed to Grade III
Belmont Gold Cup Invitational S. (Belmont Park) Listed to Grade III
Kentucky Downs Turf Sprint S. (T) (Kentucky Downs) Listed to Grade III
Temperence Hill Invitational S. (Belmont Park) non-Listed Black Type to Listed
Elusive Quality S. (T) (Belmont Park) non-Listed Black Type to Listed


RACES DOWNGRADED FOR 2017:

Two-Year-Old Fillies
Happy Ticket S. (T) (Louisiana Downs) Listed to non-Listed Black Type
M2 Technology La Senorita S. (T) (Retama Park) Listed to non-Listed Black Type

Three-Year-Old Fillies
Mother Goose S. (Belmont Park) Grade I to Grade II
Indiana Oaks (Indiana Grand) Grade II to Grade III
Lake George S. (T) (Saratoga) Grade II to Grade III
Boiling Springs S. (T) (Monmouth Park) Grade III to Listed
Old Hat S. (Gulfstream Park) Grade III to Listed
Jostle S. (Parx Racing) Listed to non-Listed Black Type
Arlington Oaks (Arlington Park) not eligible
Inaugural S. (Presque Isle Downs) not eligible

Older Fillies and Mares
Sugar Maple S. (Charles Town) Listed to non-Listed Black Type
My Juliet S. (Parx Racing) Listed to non-Listed Black Type
Windward S. (Presque Isle Downs) not eligible
American Beauty S. (T) (Santa Anita Park) not eligible
Cornucopia S. (Parx Racing) not eligible
Sweet and Sassy S. (Delaware Park) not eligible

Two-Year-Olds
With Anticipation S. (T) (Saratoga) Grade II to Grade III
Arlington-Washington Futurity (Arlington Park) Grade III to Listed
Mountaineer Juvenile S. (Mountaineer Park) Listed to non-Listed Black Type

Three-Year-Olds
Toyota Blue Grass S. (Keeneland) Grade I to Grade II
Wood Memorial S. (Aqueduct) Grade I to Grade II
West Virginia Derby (Mountaineer Park) Grade II to Grade III
Indiana Derby (Indiana Grand) Grade II to Grade III
Los Alamitos Derby (Los Alamitos Race Course) Grade II to Grade III
Peter Pan S. (Belmont Park) Grade II to Grade III
Commonwealth Derby (T) (Laurel Park) Grade II to Grade III
Jersey Shore S. (Monmouth Park) Grade III to Listed
Northern Spur S. (Oaklawn Park) Listed to non-Listed Black Type
Alcatraz S. (T) (Golden Gate Fields) Listed to non-Listed Black Type
Hawthorne Derby (T) (Hawthorne Race Course) not eligible

Older Horses
Monmouth Cup S. (Monmouth Park) Grade II to Grade III
Smile Sprint S. (Gulfstream Park) Grade II to Grade III
Edward J. Debartolo Memorial S. (T) (Remington Park) Listed to non-Listed Black Type
Wild and Wonderful S. (Charles Town) Listed to non-Listed Black Type
Arlington Sprint S. (T) (Arlington Park) not eligible
Strub S. (Santa Anita Park) not eligible
Washington Park H. (Arlington Park) not eligible
Auld Lang Syne S. (Parx Racing) not eligible
Los Alamitos Mile S. (Los Alamitos Race Course) not eligible
Memorial Mile H. (Gulfstream Park) not eligible
Mountaineer Mile S. (Mountaineer Park) not eligible

The Wood no longer a Grade 1 That's sad.

not surprised about the blue grass, which was killed by synthetic...but a little surprised by the Wood.

Wood not the biggest deal it will be a G1 again. I think the whole grading system is outdated. Don't see the need for it save marketing breeding stock. Great races don't need a label and ordinary horses typically don't win great races. The whole thing seems overrated for my palate.

Breeding market can handle the exclusion of labels.

Ugh....
First of all,the Mother Goose never should of been downgraded to a Grade 2.
Just take a look at 3 of the last 8 winners of the race:
2009: Rachel Alexandra.
2013: Close Hatches.
2014: Untapable.
They blew that one....

I guess I get the Wood,for some reason that race hasn't produced......strange.

The Blue Grass is gonna sting,that's flat out breeding country.......
They'll be scrambling over @ Keenland to get the race back up to a Grade 1.
Don't forget,the Blue Grass was downgraded to a Grade 2 for pretty much the entire decade of the 90's.

The question is........how do the Wood/Blue Grass get bumped back up ?
Both Keenland/NYRA have money to use, if that's the way they want to approach it to attract top runners.
A race sequential bonus{BC/Triple Crown race} might do the trick,or a 50% (or more) purse hike will surely thicken up the quality of the fields.

I Want Revenge and Eskendereya missing the KD after winning the Wood probably didn't help. They would have been two clear favorites in KDs won by Mine that Bird and Super Saver.

Plus Toby's Corner and Uncle Mo from the 2011 running. Wood has been very unlucky on that front. Outwork not running beyond Derby and Gemologist with only one start after Derby negatively impact as well..

Andy and Gr 2's
 

Been thinking all day on this. The Graded Stakes Committee does all grading retroactively. It also does it with prejudice. The PA Derby was a classic example.

However, when we downgrade all the Derby preps to GR 2, then we have a bunch of Gr 2 horses running in the Derby, Preakness and Belmont. How can we call those races Gr 1 when Gr 2 horses win it ? We would have to downgrade the KY Derby and all the others.

I see Andy's point for sure. It's breeding, for sure. Do I think more of a Wood win than a Woodward No. I'm OK with all preps being GR 2 at most. However, how can we have a Gr 1 KY Derby with a Gr2 horse winning it ? Lets be fair.

Grading is a breeding thing. We, as bettors, don't need it. They need it for catalogues.

How can you call a prep a Gr1 when no Gr1 horses run in in it?

The first part makes sense, but the second doesn't.

Two of the last four PA Derby winners won the Wood. Both of them also won at least one other Grade 1. One of them won two of the country's most prestigious Grade 1s.

The Wood should be a Grade 2 if all the other final KY Derby preps are Grade 2s. Something that I believe makes sense. However, downgrading one without all the others makes no sense.

Let's not forget the Wood was a GII from 1994-2002, including the last time the winner also won the Kentucky Derby. There's been a lot of good winners in the timeframe since then, including a Belmont winner, a smashing Met Mile winner, and perhaps the greatest sire of this generation- but unfortunately there's also been a lot of injuries and not the greatest supporting casts. The past two years have been particularly terrible other than Frosted, but three years ago was solid (Wicked Strong, Samraat, Social Inclusion, Effinex). It's cyclical... when a Wood or Blue Grass winner comes back to win a TC race the trainers will flock back to New York and Kentucky. Quite frankly, the weather probably plays a part in the avoidance, since prepping for the Triple Crown has become an effort in walking on eggshells. I get the logic for the downgrade, even if it's disappointing.

If it were me and I were forced to downgrade a race run on that day, it would have been the Carter.

I'm actually surprised the Hollywood Derby survived the downgrade axe, despite our very own Cherie (with Andy in tow) running 1-2, with the low purse and odd spot on the calendar. California Chrome may have singlehandledly propped that one this year.