Churchill turf course

The problematic, $10-million turf course that was installed at Churchill Downs prior to the 2022 spring season will be getting another maintenance break that will mean no grass racing in Louisville for the upcoming Sept. 12-29 meet. Usage of the Churchill turf course has been curtailed on several occasions over the past two years because of concerns over its growth, maturity and root establishment. Darren Rogers, Churchill's senior director of communications, told TDN on Thursday that track management expects the course to be usable in time for the autumn meet...

With continued challenges facing Churchill Downs' newly installed turf course, which has included the cancelling of a number of grass events, the Louisville track has announced the hiatus of both the $300,000 GII Secretariat S. and the $200,000 GIII Pucker Up S. Both were scheduled for Arlington Million Day next Saturday, Aug. 13, which is to be held at Churchill for the first time after the closing of Chicago's Arlington Park last year. Churchill is moving forward with plans to host the GI Arlington Million and the GI Beverly D....

Churchill Downs will be curtailing usage of its newly installed $10-million turf course for the remainder of the meet by capping grass races to a maximum of two per day and moving 19 races listed in condition books two and three to the main dirt track. The news arrived Sunday in the form of a note on the overnight for the June 10 races. On Monday, Churchill's senior director of communications, Darren Rogers, explained the reasoning to TDN via email. "We've decided it's best to limit turf racing to two...