The Kentucky Derby prep race in Florence, KY, formerly
known as the Jim Beam Stakes, will now be called the Gallery
Furniture.com Stakes after the TX-based company agreed to
sponsor the race for "at least" the next three years,
according to Gregory Hall of the CINCINNATI ENQUIRER. The
race's purse will increase to $750,000, from last year's
$600,000, which makes it among the richest Kentucky Derby
prep races, along with the Santa Anita Derby and FL Derby.
The event is March 27, and will once again be broadcast
nationally, with the most "likely" carrier being ABC. Jim
and Linda McIngvale own Gallery, which "plans to go national
by marketing products over the Internet." Jim McIngvale:
"Sponsoring this race offered us a nationwide platform to do
that" (CINCINNATI ENQUIRER, 7/29). The deal also includes
sponsorship of the $100,000 Gallery Furniture Kentucky Cup
Juvenile Stakes, runs September 26 as part of the Kentucky
Derby Cup Day of Champions. McIngvale put the total cost of
the deal at around $450,000 (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 7/29).
