First-ever North American graded stakes list released

Columbus, OH — For the first time ever, harness racing in the U.S. and Canada will have a schedule of Graded and Restricted Graded Stakes races in 2025. The list of Grade 1, 2 and 3 was announced Monday (Jan. 6).

During the inaugural year of the program, there will be a total of 171 Graded Stakes, including 47 Grade 1, 47 Grade 2 and 77 Grade 3 races.

Graded Stakes for the harness racing industry had been a topic of discussion for more than 20 years when, at the request of the major sales companies and breeders, with the U.S. Trotting Association supporting the project, a Graded Stakes Committee was created in 2023 to address it.

“It is gratifying to see the industry come together to promote and clarify the relative quality of the sport’s most visible and coveted races,” said Mike Tanner, chief executive officer of the USTA. “The program gives both horsemen and fans a standard against which comparisons can be made, which is a good thing. The Association is proud to help facilitate the Graded Stakes Committee’s important mission.”

The purpose of the committee was to provide those breeders, owners, trainers, and Standardbred horsemen a reliable guide to the relative quality of Standardbreds by identifying the U.S. and Canadian races whose recent renewals consistently attract the highest quality of competition.

The Graded Stakes Committee consists of 11 members that is comprised of eight representatives selected by the USTA, two from Standardbred Canada and one from the Hambletonian Society. Of the eight from the USTA, three will be racetrack representatives, two breeders, two from sales companies, and one at-large member.

The original committee established grades using purses and a points calculation system from the prior four years (2021-2024) and then adjusting for the 2025 races.

Three-year terms for committee members will be staggered with a limit of three terms. Terms commence on the date of the USTA Board of Directors annual meeting and expire Aug. 1 of the committee member’s third year.

The chair of the committee, currently USTA Vice Chairperson Mark Loewe, is selected by the full committee and serves a two-year term.

The original committee members were scheduled to serve their terms until 2027 through a staggered process. In addition to Loewe, the current members are David Reid, Mike Klau, Mark McKelvie, Steve Jones, Rich Mattei, Seth Rosenfeld, Steve Stewart, Chris Antonacci, Darryl Kaplan, and Pete Szymanski.

To be considered for committee membership, one must have previously served as a guest observer for at least one grading session.

From 2025 on, Graded Stakes will be included in yearling sales catalog pedigree pages. The grades displayed will begin with the 2021 racing season.

Graded Stakes Requirements

While there are exceptions at the discretion of the committee, following are the purse levels necessary for grading consideration:

Male
Grade 1 – $350,000 and up
Grade 2 – $175,000 – $349,999
Grade 3 – $75,000 – $174,499

Female
Grade 1 – $250,000 and up
Grade 2 – $125,000 – $249,999
Grade 3 – $75,000 – $124,999

In addition, Invitational races with a minimum purse of $100,000 can be considered for grading.

Restricted Races

State or Province restricted races, which exclude horses based upon stallion residency or mare foaling location that meet purse requirements are also eligible for a second tier of grading.

Initially, only Sire Stakes Finals can be graded with other restricted stakes races that are not Sire Stakes Finals being given consideration for grading at a later date.

Restricted race finals purse values regardless of sex are as follows:

R3 – $75,000 – $149,999
R2 – $150,000 – $224,999
R1 – $225,000 – AND UP

To learn more, including other criteria for grading as well as statistics considered and the point system utilized by the committee, click here.

For the complete list of Grade 1, 2 and 3 Stakes, click here.

The complete schedule of both Graded and Restricted Graded Stakes will be announced at a later date.

From the United States Trotting Association