American Turf Stakes


The American Turf Stakes is a Grade I American Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds run over a distance of miles on turf held annually in early May on the Kentucky Derby day meeting at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky during the spring meeting.

History

The event was inaugurated on 2 May 1992 as the fourth race on the undercard of the Kentucky Derby day meeting. The event was won by Senor Tomas who run as a Peter Vestal trained entry with Correntino in a time of 1:43.10.
The event was sponsored by Crown Royal from 1995 to 1998 and more recently by Ram Trucks from 2011 to 2019.
The event was classified as Grade III in 1998. In 2010, the American Graded Stakes Committee upgraded the race to Grade II status. In 2025, the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association upgraded the classification further to its current status as a Grade I race.
The most notable winner of the event is the 2004 winner Kitten's Joy who as a three-year-old went on to finish second in the Breeders' Cup Turf to Better Talk Now and was voted as the U.S. Champion Male Turf Horse. His offspring have won this event three times: Banned, Divisidero and Camelot Kitten.
From 2024, the winner of the race will receive a wildcard entry for the Epsom Derby.

Records

Speed record:
  • miles: 1:40.93 - Royal Strand
Margins
  • lengths - Banned
Most wins by a jockey:
Most wins by a trainer:
  • 4 - Chad C. Brown
Most wins by an owner:
Notes:


§ Ran as an entry


† In the 1993 running Compadre was first past the post but hung in the straight causing interference to the second-place finisher Desert Waves and was disqualified and placed second.