Alysheba Stakes
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| Class | Grade II |
|---|---|
| Location | Churchill Downs Louisville, Kentucky, United States |
| Inaugurated | 2004 |
| Race type | Thoroughbred - Flat racing |
| Sponsor | Twinspires (2024) |
| Website | Churchill Downs |
| Race information | |
| Distance | 1+1⁄16 miles (1.7 km) |
| Surface | Dirt |
| Track | left-handed |
| Qualification | Four-year-olds and up |
| Weight | 123 lb (56 kg) with allowances |
| Purse | US$750,000 (since 2024) |
The Alysheba Stakes is a Grade II American Thoroughbred horse race for horses aged three and older over a distance of 1+1⁄16 miles (1.7 km). It is held annually in early May on the dirt on the Kentucky Oaks day meeting at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky, during the spring meeting.
The Alysheba became the most recent addition to the Derby Week stakes with the inaugural running on 30 April 2004 as the sixth race on the undercard of the Kentucky Oaks day meeting. It was the first stakes to join the Derby Week lineup since 1997.
The event is named for the talented 1987 Kentucky Derby winner and United States Racing Hall of Fame inductee, Alysheba, who returned to the Downs in 1988 to win the Breeders' Cup Classic. His victory marked the first time a Derby winner had returned to Churchill to win a stakes since Whirlaway took the 1942 Clark Handicap.[1]
The event received graded status in 2007[2] and was upgrade to Grade II in 2012.[3]
The 2012 winner Successful Dan broke the track record for the distance[4] and held it until Fierceness broke it in 2025 in a time of 1:40.76.[5]
Records
- Speed record
- 1+1⁄16 miles: 1:40.66 – Fierceness (2025) (new track record)
- Margins
- 6 lengths – Take Charge Indy (2013)
- Most wins by a jockey
- 4 – John Velazquez (2004, 2005, 2015, 2025)
- Most wins by a trainer
- 3 – Todd Pletcher (2005, 2015, 2025)
- Most wins by an owner
- 2 – Godolphin (2021, 2024)