The Will Rogers Stakes is an American Grade III

Graded stakes race

A graded stakes race is a term applied since 1973 by the American Graded Stakes Committee of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association to thoroughbred horse races in the United States and Canada to describe races that derive their name from the stake, or entry fee, owners must pay...

T Thoroughbred horse race

Thoroughbred horse race

Thoroughbred horse racing is a worldwide sport and industry involving the racing of Thoroughbred horses. It is governed by different national bodies. There are two forms of the sport: Flat racing and National Hunt racing...

.

Run annually in the latter part of May at Hollywood Park Racetrack in Inglewood, California

Inglewood, California

Inglewood is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, southwest of downtown Los Angeles. It was incorporated on February 14, 1908. Its population stood at 109,673 as of the 2010 Census...

, the race is open to three-year-old horses. It is run over a distance of one mile on turf

Grass

Grasses, or more technically graminoids, are monocotyledonous, usually herbaceous plants with narrow leaves growing from the base. They include the "true grasses", of the Poaceae family, as well as the sedges and the rushes . The true grasses include cereals, bamboo and the grasses of lawns ...

 and currently carries a purse of $100,000. Run as a handicap prior to 2001. Run at one mile since 1995. Run exclusively on turf since 1969. Run for 3-year-olds & up in 1938, 1944.

The race was named for legendary American humorist and horseman

Horseman

Horseman may refer to:* Horse rider; see Equestrianism* Wrangler , in the United States* Stockman , who works with horses rather than with cattle or sheep* Horseman, a 2003 Croatian film...

 Will Rogers

Will Rogers

William "Will" Penn Adair Rogers was an American cowboy, comedian, humorist, social commentator, vaudeville performer, film actor, and one of the world's best-known celebrities in the 1920s and 1930s....

 who died in 1935.

Among the notable winners of this race are two U.S. Racing Hall of Fame

National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame

The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame was founded in 1950 in Saratoga Springs, New York, to honor the achievements of American thoroughbred race horses, jockeys, and trainers...

 inductees. Swaps

Swaps (horse)

Swaps was a California bred American thoroughbred racehorse. He was the son of Khaled, a stallion imported from the Aga Khan's stud in Europe. Swaps goes back to the immortal Man o' War, via his dam, Iron Reward, through the Triple Crown winner, War Admiral. In the list of the top 100 U.S...

 won the 1955 Kentucky Derby

Kentucky Derby

The Kentucky Derby is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbred horses, held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The race is one and a quarter mile at Churchill Downs. Colts and geldings carry...

 and, in his next outing, won the Will Rogers Stakes by twelve lengths. Round Table

Round Table (horse)

Round Table was an American Thoroughbred Hall of Fame racehorse. He is considered the greatest turf horse in American racing history. He was foaled at Claiborne Farm in Kentucky, on the night of April 6, 1954...

 won the race in 1957 by three and a half lengths.

In 2010, the Will Rogers was lengthened to 1 1/16-mile.

Winners of the Will Rogers Stakes since 2000

Year	Winner	Jockey	Trainer	Owner	Time
2010	Leroy's Dynameaux	Joel Rosario Joel Rosario Joel Rosario is a jockey in American Thoroughbred horse racing.Raised on a farm where he regularly road horses, Joel Rosario attended jockey school for six months. He obtained his professional license at age fourteen and began riding at Hipódromo V Centenario in Santo Domingo where he earned his...	Mark Glatt	Ellenay Racing	1:40.43
2009	NOT RUN
2008	Polonius	Jon Court Jon Court Jon Kenton Court is an American jockey in Thoroughbred horse racing.Having grown up in Florida, Jon Court began riding in Colorado at the now closed Centennial Park in 1980....	Michael Pender	B.J. Wright	1:34.95
2007	Worldly	Victor Espinoza Victor Espinoza Victor Espinoza is a jockey in American Thoroughbred horse racing. He began riding in his native Mexico and earned his first win there in 1992 before moving the following year to compete at racetracks in California....	Ben D. A. Cecil	Christopher Wright	1:35.19
2006	Stratham	David Cohen	Tim Yakteen	Jerry Jamgotchian	1:34.19
2005	Osidy	Alex Solis Alex Solis Alex O. Solis is a jockey based in the United States. He currently lives in Glendora, California and rides predominantly in Southern California...	Richard Mandella Richard Mandella Richard Eugene Mandella is a Thoroughbred horse trainer and a member of the U.S. Racing Hall of Fame....	B. Wayne Hughes	1:34.67
2004	Laura's Lucky Boy	Pat Valenzuela Pat Valenzuela Patrick Angel Valenzuela is an American thoroughbred horse racing jockey. Born into a racing family, his father plus three of his uncles, including Ismael Valenzuela, were jockeys. He rode his first career winner on November 10, 1978, at Sunland Park Racetrack in Sunland Park, New Mexico...	Jason Orman	Mercedes Stable Mercedes Stable Mercedes Stables LLC is an American Thoroughbred racing stable founded inNovember 2000. Substantially all of the interest in Mercedes Stables isheld by Ernest W. Moody, a Las Vegas gaming entrepreneur. Mercedes Stables...	1:33.45
2003	Private Chef	Victor Espinoza Victor Espinoza Victor Espinoza is a jockey in American Thoroughbred horse racing. He began riding in his native Mexico and earned his first win there in 1992 before moving the following year to compete at racetracks in California....	John Shirreffs John Shirreffs John A. Shirreffs is an American Thoroughbred racehorse trainer.Based in California, Vietnam War veteran John Shirreffs began training Thoroughbreds in 1978. He has won a number of stakes races with his most important coming in the 2005 Kentucky Derby when Giacomo scored a major upset...	Jerry & Ann Moss Jerry Moss Jerome S. "Jerry" Moss is an American recording executive, best known for being the co-founder of A&M Records, along with trumpeter and bandleader Herb Alpert....	1:35.57
2002	Doc Holiday	David R. Flores David R. Flores David Romero Flores is a jockey in American Thoroughbred horse racing.His father was a jockey and an exercise rider in Southern California....	Aimee Dollase	Wallace Dollase Wallace Dollase Wallace A. "Wally" Dollase is an American trainer and owner of Thoroughbred racehorses.Among his numerous Graded stakes race wins, Dollase won the 1996 Breeders' Cup Distaff with Jewel Princess who was voted that year's Eclipse Award as the American Champion Older Female Horse.Wally Dollase and...	1:34.64
2001	Media Mogul (DH Dead Heat Dead Heat is a 1988 movie about an LAPD police officer, Roger Mortis , killed while attempting to arrest zombies who have been reanimated by the head of Dante Laboratories in order to carry out violent armed robberies.-Plot:... )	Alex Solis Alex Solis Alex O. Solis is a jockey based in the United States. He currently lives in Glendora, California and rides predominantly in Southern California...	Jenine Sahadi	Team Valor Team Valor Team Valor Stable LLC is an American Thoroughbred horse racing stable based in Versailles, Kentucky. It was founded by Barry Irwin and Jeff Siegel who create partnerships with racing enthusiasts to race Thoroughbred horses at major racing venues, primarily in North America.In early July 2007,...  et al.	1:35.10
2001	Dr. Park (DH Dead Heat Dead Heat is a 1988 movie about an LAPD police officer, Roger Mortis , killed while attempting to arrest zombies who have been reanimated by the head of Dante Laboratories in order to carry out violent armed robberies.-Plot:... )	Tyler Baze Tyler Baze Tyler Baze is an American Champion jockey. Born into a racing family, both of his parents were jockeys as is his uncle, Gary Baze. His second cousin is U.S. Racing Hall of Fame jockey, Russell Baze....	John W. Sadler John W. Sadler John W. Sadler is an American horse trainer in the sport of Thoroughbred horse racing.Sadler got his first win in 1979 at Golden Gate Fields racetrack in the San Francisco Bay Area...	C R K Stable	1:35.10
2000	Purely Cozzene	Victor Espinoza Victor Espinoza Victor Espinoza is a jockey in American Thoroughbred horse racing. He began riding in his native Mexico and earned his first win there in 1992 before moving the following year to compete at racetracks in California....	Bob Baffert Bob Baffert Robert A. "Bob" Baffert is an American horse owner and trainer, whose horses have won three Kentucky Derbies, five Preakness Stakes, one Belmont Stakes and two Kentucky Oaks. He graduated from the University of Arizona's with a Bachelor of Science degree. -Early career:Bob Baffert began his...	Ed & Natalie Friendly Ed Friendly Edwin "Ed" S. Friendly Jr. was a multiple-Emmy-nominated television producer who was responsible for creating several successful television programs, including Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, Little House on the Prairie, and Backstairs at the White House.Ed Friendly served with the United States Army...	1:34.67