Kentucky Racing

On Thursday, May 7, MGSW United (Giant's Causeway) walked down the ramp of a Sallee Horse Vans trailer and onto the grounds of Bryan Station High School in Lexington, Kentucky. It was his first day of school, and the Bryan Station students' heads could be seen pressed against the glass of every classroom window facing him to catch a glimpse of a horse in their schoolyard. For the next two hours, students came outside to visit United, classroom by classroom, meeting the embodiment of what they had spent the previous...

Joel Cunningham has joined Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners as vice president of communications, bringing more than two decades of experience in marketing, brand strategy and communications within the Thoroughbred industry, the syndicate said in a press release on Thursday. "Joel brings a unique combination of strategic vision, creative leadership, and deep industry understanding," said President and Founder of Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners Aron Wellman. "His experience building and leading high-level communications and brand strategy will be invaluable to the team and our partners. We're excited to welcome him." Cunningham spent the last...

After 25 years at the helm of Turfway Park, and 13 years as general manager, Chip Bach will retire from his duties with the Florence, Kentucky track effective Apr. 1, the venue announced Monday morning. Bach began his career at Turfway in 1999 as director of operations and human resources. In 2012, he was promoted to general manager of Turfway and later added oversight of Newport Racing & Gaming when it opened in 2020 during the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. As general manager, Bach helped oversee the track's transition...

Kentucky's potentially landmark fixed-odds bill has been voted out the state House with an easy 79-15 margin and now heads to the state Senate. Some of the key elements in the revised version this sweeping bill include a new mandate establishing a minimum amount of at least $1,000 that a bettor can win through fixed-odds wagering, language to essentially decouple wagering providers from the prediction market (which is the ability for bettors to make speculative bets on the outcomes of future events), and language barring a cap being placed on...

Churchill Downs's spring meeting will be headlined by 50 stakes races cumulatively worth a record $27.8-million with 22 of those black-type contests being run Kentucky Derby weekend with purses set at a record $19.1-million, the track announced Monday morning. Set to run Apr. 25 to June 28, the crown jewels of those 44 race dates will naturally be the GI Kentucky Derby and GI Kentucky Oaks, the latter of which will run under the lights in prime time for the first time on the NBC broadcast. Kentucky Derby Week (Apr....

Turfway Park Racing & Gaming will move its Wednesday and Thursday live racing cards to afternoon programs with a 1 p.m. ET first post in response to forecasted single-digit wind chills expected during the evening hours, the track said in a press release on Tuesday. Officials will continue to monitor the latest forecasts, with Friday and Saturday's cards currently scheduled for their regular 5:55 p.m. first post. Wednesday will mark the first day of live racing at Turfway Park since a winter storm and freezing temperatures forced the cancellation of...

What will racing look like in 10 years? We asked some of racing's best and brightest to give us their predictions. Want to submit an answer? Email suefinley@thetdn.com. BILL CASNER, CO-FOUNDER OF WINSTAR FARM What I am so optimistic about with horse racing right now is that young people are returning. Griffin Johnson has something like 2.5 million followers. When he went into the Derby, he had 1.2 million or something followers. He loves racing. He's got a vision of where it's going to go. He will bring, and he...

A $350,000 bonus will be awarded to breeders of record for horses competing during Stars of Tomorrow II Day at Churchill Downs on Saturday, Nov. 29, in conjunction with the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association and the Kentucky HBPA, the track said via a Friday release. Breeders will compete for nearly $30,000 in bonuses across each of the 12 races on Stars of Tomorrow II. The winner of each race is eligible for a possible $16,333 for registered Kentucky-bred horses. Payments will be based on a purse-style distribution: 56% to the winner,...

Damon Thayer has retired from his job as the Senate Majority Floor Leader in the state of Kentucky, where he was one of horse racing's staunchest and most important allies. Thayer may no longer be walking the halls of the Capitol in Frankfort, but he is still working hard to help the sport he loves. He is now a senior advisor with Thoroughbred Racing Initiative (TRI), a group devoted to stopping decoupling efforts at Gulfstream Park and to see to it that racing in South Florida remains a vital part...

With what feels like the culmination from years of mounting pressure, the volcano of opprobrium over Computer Assisted Wagering (CAW) erupted this summer, spilling all over the industry. The debate around CAW players typically surrounds the edge they wield over regular gamblers thanks to their use of sophisticated technologies that allow them to precisely read the markets and to place massive wagers across many pools in the final seconds of betting-sometimes leading to extreme late odds changes-as well as the attractive rates and rebates offered to them which are unavailable...

The fourth annual Horse Racing Women's Association (HRWA) Conference, presented by Del Mar and FanDuel TV, made its debut in Lexington, Kentucky this year. Held Oct. 8-9 at Limestone Hall, the expansive event, consisting of panel discussions and networking activities, hosted nearly 200 women representing a variety of careers and experience levels throughout the Thoroughbred racing industry. Following Wednesday's welcome reception, attendees gathered Thursday in downtown Lexington as the day's program kicked off with featured speaker Lindsay Czarniak, an accomplished media personality with more than two decades of experience in...

Keeneland's 2025 Fall Meet is set to be the most lucrative in the track's history when it kicks off Friday, Oct. 3, and will also highlight a re-imagined saddling paddock--among other projects--for the 17-day season, the track announced Friday. The purses for 22 stakes during the course of the meet will be worth a total of $10.85-million, led by the GI Coolmore Turf Mile at $1.25-million that Saturday, Oct. 4 during Fall Stars weekend. It will dually function as a showcase of horses taking aim at the Breeders' Cup World...