Inaugurated 1938 Track Left-handed Distance 1,609 m | Surface Turf Qualification Three-year-olds Purse 100,000 USD | |
Location Hollywood Park Racetrack
Inglewood, California, United States Race type Thoroughbred - Flat racing | ||
Will rogers stakes giii 69th running
The Will Rogers Stakes is an American Grade IIIT Thoroughbred horse race.
Run annually in the latter part of May at Hollywood Park Racetrack in Inglewood, California, the race is open to three-year-old horses. It is run over a distance of one mile on turf and currently carries a purse of $100,000. Run as a handicap prior to 2001. Run at one mile since 1995. Run exclusively on turf since 1969. Run for 3-year-olds & up in 1938, 1944.
The race was named for legendary American humorist and horseman Will Rogers who died in 1935.
Among the notable winners of this race are two U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductees. Swaps won the 1955 Kentucky Derby and, in his next outing, won the Will Rogers Stakes by twelve lengths. Round Table won the race in 1957 by three and a half lengths.
In 2010, the Will Rogers was lengthened to 1 1/16-mile.