Iroquois Stakes Race History
Iroquois is First Kentucky Derby Prep Race
The Iroquois Stakes is run at Churchill Downs in Louisville, KY in mid-September. It’s the first graded stakes race for Thoroughbred horses on opening day at the Churchill Downs Fall Meet. The race is open to 2-year-olds and is part of the ‘Road to the Kentucky Derby’. It’s the first race of the tiered points system that awards Derby points to the top-4 finishers (10-4-2-1).
In addition to the Derby, the Iroquois is a stop on the Breeders’ Cup Challenge series where the winner earns a start in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. In the 2016 Iroquois, Not This Time finished full of run to win going away by more than 8 lengths over Lookin at 
Lee, who would go on to finish 2nd in the 2017 Kentucky Derby. Not This Time, a son of the great sire Giant’s Causeway, finished 2nd by a neck to Classic Empire in his next race as the favorite in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. A very unfortunate soft tissue injury to his front right leg during that race ended the promising career of the striking dark bay colt, as Not This Time was an early leading contender for the Kentucky Derby.
The Iroquois (pronounced Ear-Ah-Coy) is named for Iroquois, the first American horse to win the English Epsom Derby. Prior to 2013 the race was one mile on the dirt track, and open to juveniles only. Since 2013, the Grade III race has been run at a distance of 1 1⁄16 miles, and the Iroquois currently offers a purse of $150,000.
Harlan’s Holiday (2001) held the fastest one mile record in the Iroquois (1:35.01). In the most recent four editions of the 1 1/16 mile race, Cocked and Loaded (2015) finished with the best time in 1:44.94.
Bill Mott is the trainer with the most wins in the Iroquois (4), and Dale Romans has won two of the last four races since it changed to 1 1/16 miles.
