LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) Churchill Downs will pick up two graded stakes races previously run at sister track Arlington Park during the Kentucky track's 38-day spring meet.
The $100,000 Matron and the $100,000 Chicago Handicap are both for older fillies and mares and are Grade 3 races. The 80th edition of the Matron will be run at 1 1/16 miles on May 20, and the 28th edition of the Chicago Handicap will be contested at seven furlongs on June 24.
Churchill Downs racing secretary Ben Huffman says the pair of stakes races from Arlington Park would otherwise have gone on hiatus.
The addition of the two races raises the total stakes purses to $8.84 million for the spring meet, an increase of $200,000 from the $8.64 million in purses offered last year.
Arlington Park outside Chicago is owned by Churchill Downs Inc.
