Summit of Speed, Festival of the Sun highlight Calder's 2013 stakes schedule

Summit of Speed, Festival of the Sun highlight Calder's

2013 stakes schedule

The 14th annual Summit of Speed,

featuring the Grade 1 Princess Rooney Handicap and Grade 2 Smile Sprint

Handicap on July 6, and the 22nd Festival of the Sun,

which includes the rich finals of the Florida Stallion Stakes on October 12, highlight the

2013 stakes program at Calder Race Course.

"We're excited to offer a lucrative and lengthy

stakes program that will give the top horses stabled at Calder, in all

divisions, many opportunities to run," Racing Secretary Mike Anifantis said.

"Our stakes program offers nationally-renowned events such as the Summit of

Speed, which continues to turn out champion sprinters, along with events

such as the Festival of the Sun, which have proven to be both popular and

profitable for our Florida horsemen."

In addition to the Princess Rooney and the

Smile Sprint, the 2013 Summit of Speed will again include the Azalea

and Carry Back, both Grade 3 stakes, with the latter having produced a

Breeders' Cup Sprint scorer and Eclipse Award-winning champion sprinter in

last year's runner-up Trinniberg.

Long known as the signature live racing event

at Calder, the Festival of the Sun also has a recent history of producing

Eclipse Award winners with Awesome Feather and Big Drama both completing

their sweeps of the prestigious Florida Stallion Stakes with rousing

Festival of the Sun victories in the My Dear Girl and In Reality

divisions, respectively. This year's Festival of the Sun will also include the Tropical Park

Derby and Frances A. Genter.

Both the Summit of Speed and the Festival of

the Sun will feature multi-race Preview days, with the Summit of Speed

Preview slated for June 8 and the Festival of the Sun Preview scheduled for

September 14.

For the first time in years, the Calder Derby,

which will kick off the 2013 season on opening day, April 6, will be

scheduled for 1 1/8 miles on dirt, with a purse increase to $250,000

accompanying the surface switch, changes that position the race as a

potential prep for the Kentucky Derby.

The popular Juvenile Showcase, which last

season featured a Foolish Pleasure victory by Kentucky Derby hopeful Itsmyluckyday, will be held for the 11th

time on August 24. The Juvenile Showcase will again feature six

stakes solely for two-year-olds, with $550,000 in purse money to be given

away.

The 12th edition of the Florida

Million, a showcase day of racing for registered Florida-bred horses

featuring eight stakes worth $1 million in purses, will take place on November 9,

while a

Grade 3 triple header featuring the My Charmer, Tropical Turf and Fred Hooper Handicaps is scheduled for

December 7. A Grade 3 double comprised of the La Prevoyante and W. L. McKnight Handicaps will be held on

December 28.

The 129-day live racing season at Calder will

begin with the 76-day Calder meet that will run from April 6 until August 31.

The 53-day Tropical Meet starts September 1 and will continue until December 29.

First race post time for the Calder meet is 12:50 p.m. (ET), with post time for

the Tropical Meet set for 12:30 p.m. The 2014 Calder Meet will begin January 3, with the stakes schedule to be announced later this year.

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