Jim Beam Stakes to Offer Bigger Purse

The Jim Beam Stakes, a preparatory event for the Kentucky Derby, will have a 1987 purse of $500,000, which is $150,000 greater than last year’s prize money for the race.

The event will continue at Turfway Park, which formerly was known as Latonia Race Course.

The sixth annual Jim Beam Stakes for 3-year-old thoroughbreds, with a maximum field of 12 horses, will be run next March 29, the track said as it opened its fall racing season.

Officials of the northern Kentucky track and the James B. Beam Distilling Co., sponsor of the Beam Stakes, said the $500,000 purse is the richest guaranteed purse for a thoroughbred stakes race in Kentucky. The race is run over a course covering 1 1/16 miles.

“The Jim Beam organization and the new owners of Turfway Park, Jerry Carroll and Jim Thornton, felt the purse increase will attract an even more exceptional 3-year-old field this spring,” said Barry Berish, Beam Distilling president and chief executive officer. “The increase ensures the highest level of competition and adds more stature to the race.”