| Class: | Grade III |
| Horse Race: | Safely Kept Stakes |
| Location: | Laurel Park Racecourse, Laurel, Maryland, United States |
| Inaugurated: | 1986 |
| Race Type: | Thoroughbred – Flat racing |
| Distance: | 7 furlong sprint |
| Surface: | Dirt |
| Track: | left-handed |
| Qualification: | Three-year-olds fillies |
| Weight: | Assigned |
| Purse: | $125,000 |
The Safely Kept Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Laurel Park Racecourse in Laurel, Maryland. Open to fillies aged three, it is competed on dirt over a distance of seven furlongs. Run during October, it offers a purse of $100,000.
The Safely Kept Breeders' Cup Stakes is one of the top sprints for three-year-old fillies in the country. One of the few six-furlong contests with graded status for three-year-olds that leads to the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint. It was inaugurated in 1986 as the Columbia Stakes. The stakes record is held by Godmother who finished the six furlongs in 1:09.21.[1]
The race is named in honor of Jayeff "B" Stable's and Barry Weisbord's 1989 Eclipse Award Champion Sprinter and 1989 Columbia Stakes winner Safely Kept in 1996. The race has been called several different titles beginning with Columbia Handicap (after a nearby town in Maryland) from 1986–1987, then the Columbia Stakes from 1989–1995.[2]
The race was at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland and has been moved to back and forth from Laurel to Pimlico depending on dates that were assigned by the Maryland Racing Commission. The race was held at Pimlico in 1986–1987, 1989, and 1991–1996. The race was run at Colonial Downs in New Kent, Virginia in 1997. The race was run at Laurel in 1988, 1990, 1998–2000 and from 2006 to present.[3] The race was run at furlongs in 1987 and 1988.
The Safely Kept Breeders' Cup Stakes was given Graded stakes status in 1990. On August 7, 2008 it was announced that the race would be on hiatus for 2008, the Maryland Jockey Club cited financial distress as the reason for the races' cancellation. The annual grading session of the American Graded Stakes Committee listed Safely Kept S. at Laurel Park not eligible for grading for 2010.
Speed record:
Most wins by a horse:
Most wins by a jockey:
Most wins by a trainer:
Most wins by an owner:
| Year | Winner | Jockey | Trainer | Owner | Dist. | Time | Purse | Gr. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 7 fur | 0:00.00 | $100,000 | |||||
| 2020 | Hello Beautiful | Sheldon Russell | Brittany T. Russell | Madaket Stables LLC, | 7 fur | 1:22.26 | $100,000 | |
| 2019 | Needs Supervision | Feargal Lynch | Jeremiah O'Dwyer | Howling Pigeons Farm | 7 fur | 1:23.51 | $100,000 | |
| 2018 | America's Tale | Trevor McCarthy | Bernie Flint | Naveed Chowhan | 7 fur | 1:23.97 | $100,000 | |
| 2017 | Berned | Feargal Lynch | Graham Motion | Three C Stables, etc. | 7 fur | 1:22.54 | $100,000 | |
| 2016 | Tale for Ruby | Edgar Prado | Barclay Tagg | Charles Fipke | 7 fur | 1:23.51 | $100,000 | |
| 2015 | Hot City Girl | Cornelio Velásquez | Linda Rice | Lady Sheila Stable | 6 fur | 1:09.67 | $100,000 | |
| 2014 | Who's In Town | Julian Pimentel | Michael Matz | Richard Golden | 7 fur | 1:23.68 | $100,000 | |
| 2013 | Lady Sabelia | Horacio Karamanos | Robin Graham | Mrs. Frank P. Wright | 7 fur | 1:23.97 | $100,000 | |
| 2012 | Greed and Fear | Horacio Karamanos | Rudy Rodriguez | Michael Dubb | 7 fur | 1:25.13 | $125,000 | |
| 2011 | no race | no race | no race | no race | 7 fur | 1:25.13 | $125,000 | |
| 2010 | no race | no race | no race | no race | 7 fur | 1:25.13 | $125,000 | |
| 2009 | no race | no race | no race | no race | 7 fur | 1:25.13 | $125,000 | |
| 2008 | no race | no race | no race | no race | 7 fur | 1:25.13 | $125,000 | |
| 2007 | Sindy with an S | Jeremy Rose | Mike R. Mitchell | Dream Stable, LLC | 6 fur | 1:10.16 | $200,000 | III |
| 2006 | Wild Gams | Ryan Fogelsonger | Ben Perkins Jr. | Everett B. Novak | 6 fur | 1:09.93 | $200,000 | III |
| 2005 | Trikle of Gold | Jeremy Rose | Michael Gorham | John Murphy | 6 fur | 1:10.45 | $150,000 | III |
| 2004 | Bending Strings | Hector Karamanos | Kiaran McLaughlin | John Gunther | 6 fur | 1:10.11 | $150,000 | III |
| 2003 | Randaroo | Heberto Castillo | Kiaran McLaughlin | H. Joseph Allen | 6 fur | 1:10.54 | $150,000 | III |
| 2002 | Miss Lodi | Ryan Fogelsonger | Thomas M. Amoss | Richard Colton & Henry Mast | 6 fur | 1:11.20 | $150,000 | III |
| 2001 | Kimbralata | Travis Dunkelberger | Dale Capuano | Donald Mensh | 6 fur | 1:11.20 | $100,000 | III |
| 2000 | Swept Away | Jeremy A. Beasley | Bernard Flint | Rich Bertram & Elaine Klein | 6 fur | 1:09.51 | $100,000 | III |
| 1999 | Godfather | Mario Pino | Robert W. Camac | Arthur I. Appleton | 6 fur | 1:09.21 | $100,000 | III |
| 1998 | Hair Spray | José A. Vélez Jr. | Charlie Whittingham | Robert E. Meyerhoff | 6 fur | 1:10.67 | $110,000 | III |
| 1997 | Weather Vane | Mario Pino | Richard Delp | Par Four Racing Stable | 6 fur | 1:10.21 | $110,000 | III |
| 1996 | J J's Dream | Mario Pino | Eddie Plesa Jr. | John A. Franks | 6 fur | 1:09.45 | $100,000 | III |
| 1995 | Broad Smile | Jerilyn Brown | Richard W. Small | Robert E. Meyerhoff | 6 fur | 1:10.30 | $100,000 | III |
| 1994 | Twist Afleet | Dennis Carr | John C. Kimmel | Lucille Conover | 6 fur | 1:10.88 | $100,000 | III |
| 1993 | Miss Indy Anna | B. Douglas Thomas | Ned Allard | Charles T. Matses | 6 fur | 1:09.12 | $100,000 | III |
| 1992 | Meafara | Brian Swatuk | Leslie Ahrens | Frank Muench | 6 fur | 1:10.55 | $100,000 | III |
| 1991 | Missy's Mirage | Herb McCauley | H. Allen Jerkens | Middletown Stable | 6 fur | 1:10.53 | $100,000 | III |
| 1990 | Voodoo Lily | Kent Desormeaux | D. Wayne Lukas | H. Joseph Allen | 6 fur | 1:10.60 | $100,000 | III |
| 1989 | Safely Kept | Craig Perret | Alan E. Goldberg | Jayeff B Stab/Barry Weisbord | 6 fur | 1:11.20 | $100,000 | III |
| 1988 | Clever Power | Julie Krone | Richard E. Dutrow Sr. | Marvin Moncrief | fur | 1:16.40 | $110,000 | |
| 1987 | Endless Surprise | Kent Desormeaux | Hyman Ravich | Peter Angelos | fur | 1:17.40 | $47,250 | |
| 1986 | Debtor's Prison | David Byrnes | Not Found | Not Found | 6 fur | 1:11.40 | $47,000 | |