Ellis Park: 18 stakes, record $4 million

Ellis Park press release (Coady Media photo of Walkathon, second from left after breaking from post 11, after the start of her victory in last year’s $250,000 Kentucky Downs Preview Ladies Turf Mile at Ellis Park. Walkathon, ridden by Brian Hernandez for trainer Ian Wilkes, won both the Preview stakes and the Grade 3 Kentucky Downs Ladies Turf at Kentucky Downs)

Minimum stakes purse is $150,000 for Kentucky-breds
HENDERSON, Ky. (Monday, June 2, 2025) – Record stakes purses await this summer at Ellis Park Racing & Gaming, where an impressive $4 million is available across 18 races during the 25-day season that begins Thursday, July 3. Here’s the stakes schedule (total purses include Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund money, which also is listed in last column.)

ELLIS PARK 2025 STAKES SCHEDULE

Ellis Park’s stakes lineup is led by the $400,000 Pucker Up (Grade III), one of seven races across Kentucky Downs Preview Weekend, Aug. 2-3. This stakes-filled weekend of racing also includes the $300,000 Kentucky Downs Preview Turf Cup (Listed), $250,000 Kentucky Downs Preview Mint Millions Turf Mile (Listed), $250,000 Kentucky Downs Preview Turf Sprint (Listed), $250,000 Kentucky Downs Preview Ladies Turf Mile, $250,000 Kentucky Downs Preview Nashville Derby and $250,000 Kentucky Downs Preview Ladies Turf Sprint. Winners of the Preview Weekend stakes receive an automatic, fees-paid berth in the corresponding stakes at Kentucky Downs.

Two other premiere stakes events scheduled are the $300,000 Ellis Park Derby (Listed) and $200,000 Groupie Doll (Listed), taking place Sunday, Aug. 10. The Ellis Park Derby and Groupie Doll are part of a six-stakes lineup that day, which also includes the $200,000 Ellis Park Juvenile, $200,000 Ellis Park Debutante, $200,000 Audubon Oaks and $200,000 R. A. “Cowboy” Jones Memorial.

The meet will start with racing on a Thursday-Sunday schedule, then shift to a Saturday-Monday format from July 13 to Aug. 18 before concluding with a Friday-Sunday schedule, Aug. 22-24.