Cradle Stakes

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The Cradle Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race for two-year-olds held at Belterra Park in Cincinnati, Ohio (formerly River Downs). It began in 1977 as a dirt race over 1 1/16 miles and is run on a left-handed turf track with a purse of $125,000. Miller Genuine Draft has sponsored the race since its start, and until 2009 it was the longest continuously sponsored Thoroughbred race in the United States. In the 1980s it became the richest 2-year-old race in Ohio; Spend a Buck won the 1984 Cradle before later taking the Kentucky Derby in 1985. The race moved to turf in 2007 as a prep for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf. After 2010, the Cradle and its filly Bassinet were put on hiatus to protect daily purses. In July 2022 Belterra announced both races would return in September, but they were cancelled again in August 2022.