Churchill Downs
A total of 116 nominations, led by reigning champion 2-year-old filly British Idiom (Flashback), were received by the Churchill Downs racing office at the first entry stage for the $1.25-million GI Longines Kentucky Oaks, to be held Friday, May 1 beneath the Twin Spires. Campaigned in partnership by Michael Dubb, The Elkstone Group, Madaket Stables & Bethlehem Stables, and conditioned by 2018 Oaks-winning trainer Brad Cox, British Idiom was the impressive winner of the GI Darley Alcibiades S. last October before following up with a neck defeat of Donna Veloce...
Churchill Downs Incorporated plans to invest $5.6 million to replace the existing track at Turfway Park with a new Tapeta synthetic track through an agreement with Tapeta Footings, Inc., CDI announced Tuesday. The removal of Turfway's existing Polytrack and installation of the new Tapeta synthetic track will take place immediately following the close of Turfway's Winter/Spring Meet Mar. 28 and is expected to be ready for the 2020 Holiday Meet beginning Dec. 2. CDI owns and operates three of the four synthetic tracks in the United States and Turfway will...
Churchill Downs, Derby Divas and Norton Cancer Institute have opened the online nomination process to choose 146 breast and ovarian cancer survivors to march in the Survivors Parade at the 146th Longines Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs Friday, May 1. The 146 participants will be announced Mar. 23. Nominations can be made here. Since the first Survivors' Parade a dozen years ago, Churchill Downs has donated over $1 million to organizations that support the cause of women's health. For the fourth year in a row, Churchill will donate $50,000 to...
Eight horses trained by Joe Sharp at the Fair Grounds meet have been disqualified after testing positive for the drug levamisole. Sharp said that he had another five horses who tested positive for the same drug last fall at Churchill and he is awaiting word from Churchill Downs stewards on that matter. The Louisiana positives were first reported by the Daily Racing Form. The Louisiana horses were all placed last and Sharp was fined $1,000 for each infraction. Levamisole, which Sharp said was found in an over-the-counter deworming product he...
Churchill Downs is seeking its first 'Official Menu Taste Tester of the 146th Kentucky Derby.' Now through Feb. 12, the first 100 people to share their favorite original Derby party recipe will have the chance to join Churchill Downs' Executive Chef David Danielson in the racetrack's kitchen to finalize this year's official menu that will be served to thousands. To enter to win, click here. The winner of this will be awarded a trip to Louisville with a guest in March 2020 for the tasting and selection. The experience also...
What was the experience that made you fall in love with horse racing? My dad's roommate in college was Tom Durkin, and he was still good friends with my parents when I was a kid. So when I was growing up, horse racing was something that was always on the television at my house and viewed as important. But the first instance I remember being mentally captured by the sport was when I was there for Alysheba winning the Kentucky Derby. Would you commit to creating one new fan this...
Amid uncertainty over whether or not the track will be dark in 2020 as negotiations with Churchill Downs continue, the Arlington Racing Department has released the track's 2020 Stakes Schedule. The August 15th $1-million dollar GI Arlington Million is the highlight of the 18-stakes schedule worth $3.65 million. Opening May 1, the highlight of the 68-day race meet is the International Festival of Racing where, in addition to the 1 1/4-mile Million, Arlington also hosts the 1 3/16-mile $600,000 GI Beverly D. Stakes for fillies and mares and the 1-mile $500,000 GI Secretariat Stakes for sophomores. Both the Million and the...
Kentucky Derby Museum is adding a splash of bourbon to a new tour coming to the Museum Jan. 23. The Bourbon and Bridles Tour includes tour of Churchill Downs, intertwining the history of bourbon and horse racing in Kentucky. "Locals and out-of-towners are often looking to experience the same thing: horses and bourbon," said said Kentucky Derby Museum President & CEO, Patrick Armstrong. "Why not give them both in one location? The ties between bourbon and horse racing run together throughout Kentucky Derby history, and to us, is an obvious...
Despite receiving an email from Churchill Downs officials saying they were ready to resume talking, Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association President Mike Campbell said he thought the odds of the track holding a live meet in 2020 were "50-50." The horsemen and Churchill, which owns Arlington, have been at odds since August, when Churchill stunned the Illinois racing industry by not applying for a casino license at Arlington. Churchill also owns the nearby Rivers Casino Des Plaines in Des Plaines, Illinois. Without any promise of having gaming revenue available to supplement...
Barely 18 hours after a state-mandated Dec. 31 deadline elapsed for having a purse contract in place, the Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association (ITHA) lashed out at Arlington International Racecourse and its publicly traded ownership, Churchill Downs, Inc. (CDI), claiming that the gaming company "deceived Illinois" and is now "threatening the future of live racing at Arlington by refusing to commit" to funding adequate purses for the 2020 meet. The ITHA's allegations were listed in a point-by-point press release sent to news organizations late on New Year's Day, and the top...
Long Weekend (Majesticperfection), an impressive five-length debut winner going five furlongs at Churchill Downs June 23, takes on seven rivals in Saturday's GII Saratoga Special S. The field that day included subsequent jaw-dropping 'TDN Rising Star' Dennis' Moment (Tiznow), who clipped heels early and lost his rider. "It's not so much the [6 1/2 furlongs] distance, it's more [facing] a higher-caliber field," trainer Tom Amoss said. "We think he's a good horse, but for that to be true, he has to show it on Saturday. That's the concerns of ours--how...
Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency 5th-ELP, $50k, Msw, 2yo, f, 5 1/2f, 5:42 p.m. ET Trainer Mark Casse sends out a pair of regally bred fillies in Friday's fifth event at Ellis. CRYSTAL GLACIER (Curlin), a daughter of the same stallion that lit up the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sales ring during Monday's session with three seven-figure colts, was acquired by Live Oak for the sum of $500,000 as a yearling at that sale a year ago. The dark bay hails from the family of Grade I winner and sire Majestic Warrior...