“So, we feel like we’re on the right trajectory with the race.” “Over the last few years, the horses that have won have gone and proven themselves in Grade 1 races,” Oaklawn vice president of racing Jason Milligan, who attended the last week’s grading meeting as an observer, said. Grade 1 is the committee’s highest race rating. Grades are largely based on the performance of all starters 24 months before and after the specified race, with horses winning or recording top three finishes in graded stakes during that span carrying the most weight. Oaklawn lobbied several years for the 1 1/16-miles Fantasy, a major Kentucky Oaks prep race, to be upgraded. Grades were announced Saturday following the committee’s annual grading meeting Dec.
The Fantasy was among 429 races nationally assigned numerical grades (1, 2, 3) in 2024 by the American Graded Stakes Committee, an arm of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association. The Fantasy Stakes will return to Grade 2 status in 2024 after being run as a Grade 3 event since 2013. Oaklawn’s signature race for 3-year-old fillies has received an upgrade.
