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Summit of Speed highlights Calder's stakes schedule Calder Race Course announced its stakes schedules for the 2012 Calder and Tropical meets on Friday. The Miami Gardens, Florida, venue will begin this year's live racing season on April 9 and host two consecutive meets -- the 85-day Calder Meet from April 9 to August 31 and the 65-day Tropical Meet from September 1 to December 2. The Calder Meet will be jump-started with three stakes in the month of April, including the return of the Calder Derby on April 14 and the Calder Oaks on April 28 after a one-year absence. The Calder Derby will send sophomores 1 1/16 miles on the turf for a $150,000 purse while the Calder Oaks carries a $100,000 purse for three-year-old fillies also going 8 1/2 grassy furlongs. The Grade 3, $125,000 Miami Mile Handicap at a mile on turf for three-year-olds and up will be run on April 21. The month of April will also feature the introduction of the "Calder Starter Series," a four-race series designed for four-year-olds and up that have started for a claiming price of $20,000 or less in 2011 or 2012, with two exciting incentives -- attractive purse money and a lucrative trainer bonus. Each race carries a $50,000 purse (including $5,000 in Florida Owners' Awards) and the series offers a $5,000 bonus to the trainer of the horse that accumulates the most points after the fourth race of the series. Points are allocated to the top six finishers of each race. Dates for the Calder Starter Series are April 14 (seven furlongs, dirt), April 28 (one mile, turf), May 12 (one mile & 70 yards, dirt), and May 26 (1 1/16 miles, turf) with nominations closing on March 26. "The stakes races in April, along with the Calder Starter Series, are designed to be early hallmarks to Calder's race meet," Calder Vice President and General Manager of Racing John Marshall explained. "Players can expect to wager on quality racing at Calder beginning April 9 and continuing through December 2." Highlights of the 2012 Calder Meet include the nationally-recognized Summit of Speed on July 7, with a Summit Preview day on June 9. Last year's Summit of Speed produced an Eclipse Award champion in Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint heroine Musical Romance. Purses of the Grade 1 Princess Rooney Handicap and Grade 2 Smile Sprint Handicap for the 2012 Summit of Speed card have been increased to $400,000 each (from $350,000 in 2011). The $150,000 Carry Back Stakes and $150,000 Azalea Stakes, both Grade 3 events, as well as the $100,000 Bob Umphrey Turf Sprint Handicap and $100,000 Hollywood Wildcat Handicap round out this year's Summit of Speed stakes program. Calder will present the Juvenile Showcase on August 25, a day dedicated to juvenile racing featuring the middle leg of the Florida Stallion Stakes. The day's six stakes races for racing's future stars total $550,000. Recent graduates of the Juvenile Showcase include Breeders' Cup and Eclipse Award champions Awesome Feather and Big Drama as well as Grade 1 victor Jackson Bend. The 2012 Tropical Meet will feature three multiple-stakes event days -- the Festival Preview on September 15, Festival of the Sun on October 13 and Florida Million on November 10 -- and five Graded stakes will be contested during the final weeks of the season. The Calder Meet offers 31 stakes worth $3,475,000 and the Tropical Meet will feature 27 stakes totaling $3,175,000 for a combined stakes program worth $6.65 million. "Over $6.6 million in stakes purse money awaits horsemen to compete for on a schedule with enriched April racing opportunities for horsemen in addition to the traditional events," Marshall said. "The entire Florida racing community is rooting for Calder racing this year and our horsemen and the racing office are sure to deliver top flight wagering action for racing fans across the country."
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