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."