Kentucky Oaks Kentucky Oaks The Kentucky Oaks is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbred fillies staged annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. The race currently covers at Churchill Downs; the horses carry . The Kentucky Oaks is held on the Friday before the Kentucky Derby each year. The winner gets $600,000 of the $1M purse and a large garland of lilies, affectionately called the "Lillies for the Fillies." A silver Kentucky Oaks Trophy is presented to the winner. The first running of the Kentucky Oaks was on May 19, 1875, when Churchill Downs was known as the Louisville Jockey Club.
Turf Classic Stakes inaugural running was won by the 1986 Breeders' Cup Turf winner, Manila. Other notable winners include two-time Horse of the Year Wise Dan and champion turf horses Sky Classic, Paradise Creek and English Channel. Turf Classic Stakes The Turf Classic Stakes is an American thoroughbred horse race run in early May at Churchill Downs open to horses four years old and up. It is raced on turf at a distance of one and one-eighth miles and currently offers a purse of $500,000. Formerly known as the Early Times Turf Classic Stakes, it is now sponsored by Old Forester. A major