The Secretariat Stakes is a Grade I American Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds over a distance of one mile on the turf. The event was originally raced at the now-closed Arlington Park in Arlington Heights, Illinois as a supporting stakes race on the Arlington Million racing program. Churchill Downs, whose parent company owns the land of the defunct Arlington Park racetrack, originally planned to run the Secretariat Stakes in 2022, but the race was not run due to issues with the Churchill Downs turf course. The 2023 race will be run at Churchill-owned Colonial Downs in Virginia. History Precursor — Arlington Invitational In 1973, after Secretariat became the first U.S. Triple Crown winner in twenty five years, many race tracks wanted to have him race at their tracks. Arlington racetrack management offered to run him in the American Derby but it was too soon after his Belmont Stakes victory. Management pursed to create an event that would entice Secretariat's connections. This event was called the Arlington Invitational with $125,000 stakes offered in order to showcase Secretariat to Chicago racing fans and it was held 29 June 1973. A crowd of 41,223 witnessed seeing the three challengers grouped as a single betting entry at 6–1 and Secretariat was 1–20 odds-on which created a minus pool of $17,941. Secretariat won the miles race by nine lengths in 1:47 flat, just off the track record set by Damascus with My Gallant and Our Native running second and third respectively. Both of these horses had lost to the Champion in the Triple Crown series. The performance produced a lasting impression to Arlington Park management. Event One year and one day after Secretariat's performance at Arlington Park, track management scheduled a race in his honor. The inaugural event was held 30 June 1974 over a distance of miles on the turf. The event was won in an upset with the 39-1 longshot Glossary winning. The event was set with Grade II status. It was run over in 1975/76 and extended to from 1978 to 1984, before settling at miles from 1985 to 2018. In 1984 the event was upgraded to Grade I status. In 1985 the event was held at Hawthorne Race Course over a shorter distance of miles. There was no race run in 1988, 1998 and 1999. In 2005 it was included in the Grand Slam of Grass, which offered a substantial bonus