Inaugurated 1956 Distance 7.5 furlongs | Website www.churchilldowns.com Surface Dirt | |
Location Churchill Downs
Louisville, Kentucky, United States Race type Thoroughbred - Flat racing | ||
The Eight Belles Stakes is a Grade II race run at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky each year on Kentucky Derby Day. Run at a distance of 7 1⁄2 furlongs, it is open to three-year-old filly sprinters and currently offers a purse of $200,000.
Raced as the Oaks Prep from 1956 to 1966, it was then renamed the La Troienne Stakes from 1967 to 2008 for one of the greatest broodmares in the United States throughout the twentieth century, La Troienne. In June 2008, Churchill Downs announced that beginning in 2009 this race would be called the Eight Belles Stakes in honor of the deceased filly, Eight Belles, who finished second in the 2008 Kentucky Derby. In 2010, the Louisville Distaff Stakes was renamed the La Troienne Stakes.
Beginning in 2013 this race took place on the same card as the Kentucky Oaks. It was also raised from a Grade III to a Grade II event.