Kentucky Downs

Kentucky Downs will host six graded events Saturday, led by the 'Win and You're In' $1-million GII Fanduel Turf Sprint S. and $1-million GII Kentucky Turf Cup S. NBC Sports will broadcast both live on CNBC. After successfully defending his title in Saratoga's GI Resorts World Casino Sword Dancer S. Aug. 27, Gufo (Declaration of War) returns on short notice for the Kentucky Turf Cup. He is the 7-5 morning-line favorite. The 8-year-old Arklow (Arch) looks for his third win from five attempts in this contest following victories in 2018...

The $1 million GII Kentucky Turf Cup S. and $1 million GII FanDuel Turf Sprint S. headline NBC Sports' Breeders' Cup Challenge Series coverage this Saturday at Kentucky Downs, live on CNBC at 5:00 p.m. ET. Coverage will be led by host Ahmed Fareed, analyst and handicapper Matt Bernier, and reporter Nick Luck. The hour-long telecast is the sixth program this year in the "Breeders' Cup Challenge Series: Win and You're In--presented by America's Best Racing" on NBC, Peacock, and CNBC from some of North America's most iconic racetracks. The...

After breaking his maiden on debut at Ellis Park July 30, Private Creed shipped to Saratoga to contest the Skidmore S., checking in third just two lengths behind winner Oxymore (Astern {Aus}). Back in Kentucky, the 5-2 second choice behind overwhelming favorite Sharp Aza Tack, racing with blinkers for the first time, utilized a similar racing style from his first two starts--tracking in third behind pacesetter Revere Note (Revolutionary) with the favorite racing between them. Tipped to the inside of his rival past the quarter pole, Private Creed engaged Sharp...

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency 2nd-KD, $150k, Msw, 2yo, 6 1/2fT, post time: 1:58 p.m. ET WinStar and Gainesway Farm's SUNDANCE (Quality Road), an $800,000 Keeneland September yearling, moves to the lawn for his second outing. The Rodolphe Brisset trainee was a well-beaten fifth in his main-track debut at Ellis Park Aug. 6. The juvenile is the first foal out of Grade I-placed Cherry Lodge (Bernardini). Richard and Connie Snyder's Tollgate Canyon (Arrogate) makes his first trip to the post for trainer Joe Sharp. Out of graded-placed Burg Berg (Johannesburg),...

Extreme weather forced Kentucky Downs to cancel the last four races on Saturday's card, including the $1-million GIII WinStar Mint Million S. The Franklin, Ky. track will now hold the Mint Million Saturday, Sept. 10. The $500,000 Kentucky Downs Juvenile Mile, which was also scheduled for Saturday, has been moved to Wednesday, Sept. 14. Nominations have reopened for both stakes and will close Sunday, Sept. 4. All horses originally nominated to the two black-type events will automatically be renominated. The track has also decided to delay Sunday's card due to...

No wind, no rain, no summer storm was stopping Chop Chop from securing a first career stakes victory for herself and her freshman sire (by Quality Road) in the Aristocrat Gaming Juvenile Fillies S. She was also the second winner on the card for City of Light, following in the hoofsteps of impressive graduate Gaslight Dancer. A stalk-and-pounce winner on debut at Ellis Park Aug. 14, Chop Chop rated kindly from third here and drafted into the turn behind a pair of dueling leaders through :24.11 and :49.99 splits. Shifting...

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency 1st-DMR, $80K, Msw, 2yo, f, 5 1/2f, post time: 4:00 p.m. ET Michael Petersen and Willow Grace Farm, who campaign last year's GI Del Mar Debutante winner Grace Adler (Curlin) in partnership, team up for the Sunday opener at Del Mar with $950K Keeneland September acquisition CARLA (Medaglia d'Oro). The February foal is the first produce from Naples Princess (Distorted Humor), a full-sister to SW Banker's Buy and a half to SW City Dweller (Carson City) and SW Glacken's Gal (Smoke Glacken), the dam of...

This weekend the baton will be handed off from our traditional summer focal points of Del Mar and Saratoga to Franklin Kentucky and the Kentucky Downs meet. Full fields, big crowds, and a vibrant atmosphere made possible by Historic Horse Racing (HHR) machines, and an ownership group willing to invest in its potential. Kentucky Downs embodies great hope for Kentucky racing and our industry's future, and it was almost taken away Feb. 10, 2021. It was a cold, nasty February evening in Kentucky, when the Kentucky House of Representatives took...

On this week's episode of Bettor Things with Joe Bianca, the host talks to handicapper, owner/breeder and former racetrack executive CJ Johnsen about betting, sports, music and more. Johnsen, who is currently the vice president at CJ Thoroughbreds, is best known for guiding the remarkable transformation of Kentucky Downs from an afterthought on the racing calendar to a marquee stand with what equates to paradise for horseplayers: big fields and low takeout. Then, in the latest installment of his Breeders' Cup handicapping series, Bianca lays out plays for Saratoga's GI...

Joe Bianca talks to handicapper, owner/breeder and former racetrack executive CJ Johnsen about betting, sports, music and more, then Joe lays out plays for Saratoga's Jockey Club Gold Cup and Flower Bowl, two Breeders' Cup "Win and You're In" challenge races.

1st-Kentucky Downs, $156,000, Msw, 9-1, 2yo, f, 6 1/2fT, 1:16.89, fm, 4 1/2 lengths. CARNABY STREET (f, 2, American Pharoah--Sloane Square {GSP}, by Giant's Causeway), favored at 7-5 in the opening event of the meet, settled patiently and stalked from good position in third behind the leading pair of Master Som (Mastery) and Fabulosity (Exaggerator). With a ton of run but little room, she waited for a break to open between rivals down the stretch, split them into the final furlong, and easily cleared late to score by 4 1/2...

Courtesy Kentucky Downs Ten--and possibly 11--of the 16 horses that won stakes at Kentucky Downs last year are scheduled to return for the upcoming meet, which runs seven days between Sept. 1-14. Trainer Mike Stidham said both 2021 GIII Ladies Turf winner Princess Grace (Karakontie {Jpn}) and GIII WinStar Mint Million victor Pixelate (City Zip) will shoot for repeat stakes triumphs at the all-turf FanDuel Meet at Kentucky Downs. The $1-million GIII Mint Million S. is Sept. 3 and the $750,000 GIII Kentucky Downs Ladies Turf is Sept. 10, which features...