Kentucky Racing

A record-shattering total of $25,385,003 was wagered on Saturday's 12-race card at Kentucky Downs, a press release from the track said late on Saturday. Six of the races were stakes. Each race featured at least 10 starters, and 10 races had 11 or more. The previous Kentucky Downs wagering record was the $21,184,941 wagered last year on the corresponding day, reflecting an increase this year of more than $4.2 million.

Stakes purses at Ellis Park will reach a record number this summer with an expected $4-million available across 18 races during the 25-day meeting, it was announced via press release. With the season set to begin July 3, the stakes lineup is led by the $400,000 GIII Pucker Up Stakes, one of seven races on Kentucky Downs Preview Weekend Aug. 2-3, and will also include the $300,000 Listed Ellis Park Derby and the $200,000 Listed Groupie Doll Stakes the weekend of Aug. 10. Those two contests lead a six-stakes lineup...

Lexington, KY-Following a jam-packed Tuesday of racing at Keeneland, highlighted by the postponed running of the GI Toyota Blue Grass Stakes, industry members ventured out to the Kentucky Thoroughbred Farm Managers' Club (KTFMC)'s monthly meeting held at Fasig-Tipton. The evening was highlighted by a panel on racehorse ownership with prominent owners Brook Smith, John Stewart and Jayson Werth leading the discussion. Each panelist followed a unique path into the industry. Smith, a Westport, Ky. native, launched a successful career in the insurance industry, specifically surety. He later caught the 'racing...

Lexington, KY - With a view overlooking the massive renovation of the Keeneland paddock, professional equine investigators soaked up the latest techniques in the trade and engaged some of the most pressing issues across racing during the first day of the 29th annual Organization of Racing Investigators (ORI) Training Conference on Monday. The ORI is a member organization which is composed of investigators who hail from jurisdictions across the U.S. and includes an international cadre as well. The conference's purpose is to create a resource where these shoe leather detectives...

Keeneland Race Course is projecting overall purses for the upcoming April meet to increase in the range of 10-12%, with maiden special weight (MSW) purses for 3-year-olds and up rising to $110,000 after that MSW figure had plateaued at $100,000 for the past three springs. Churchill Downs plans to card 3-and-up MSW races at $120,000 during its April-June meet, a level that hasn't changed since 2022. Executives from both tracks disclosed those spring 2025 purse projections during the Jan. 28 Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund (KTDF) advisory board meeting. Rick Hiles,...

Competing primarily on the difficult Kentucky circuit, Spuns Son had raced 32 times between the ages of 3 and 5 without ever once getting his picture taken in the winner's circle. But the Hard Spun gelding had managed to hit the board on eight occasions, and he had closed well enough in $16,000 and $12,500 maiden-claiming grass routes in Indiana and Virginia during the second half of 2024 to make trainer John F. Hill, Jr. think that dropping him in for a $5,000 tag going long over Turfway Park's Tapeta...

Leading all trainers in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, Steve Asmussen and Brad Cox-who finished 2024 with 96 victories apiece--sent out a combined 1,038 starters throughout the nine meets at Kentucky's five thoroughbred racetracks. Approximately 24% of Asmussen's North America-leading 407 overall victories came in Kentucky, while about 41% of Cox's 243 seasonal wins came in his home state. Asmussen, who started 670 horses in the state last year, won meet titles at Churchill (spring and fall), Ellis Park (tied with Brendan Walsh) and Kentucky Downs (tied with Walsh and Joe...

Horse racing is a sport genetically programmed in high emotion. It's hardly surprising then that the vet scratch-the ultimate sucker-punch after weeks and months of best laid plans-should prove such a test of nerves. The problem is, diagnosing subtle lameness can be such a subjective venture. And where there's uncertainty, doubt can quickly escalate to condemnation. A recent TDN compendium of data collected from around the country, however, shows that scratched horses run a much higher than average risk of harboring an injury. Numbers from California, Florida, New York, Kentucky...

Outgoing Kentucky State Senator Damon Thayer has been named the recipient of the 2024 Warner L. Jones Jr. Horseman of the Year Award by the Louisville-based Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners (KTO), which will be presented on Saturday, Nov. 23 at the Kentucky Derby Museum, the organization said via a release Thursday morning. The KTO's Warner Jones award recognizes individuals for outstanding contributions to Kentucky racing and sharing the passion exemplified by Jones, who spent 50 years on the Churchill Downs board, including eight as chairman during the track's resurgence in the...

A newly released economic impact study conducted by the University of Louisville's Departments of Equine Administration and Economics reveals that Keeneland's racing operations, annual Thoroughbred auctions, supporting business lines and investment in new construction generates an estimated $1.6 billion for Fayette and its surrounding counties, the track said in a press release issued on Wednesday. The study also noted that around 64% of racing patrons come from outside Kentucky, while around 67% of those attending and participating in the annual horse auctions come from outside the state. Of those attending...

Slated to be Kentucky's only Quarter Horse venue, Revolutionary Racing is pouring $10 million into Sandy Ridge Racetrack which is currently under construction in Ashland, the investor said via a Friday press release. Built on 182 acres behind Sandy's Racing & Gaming--a $75 million entertainment facility that Revolutionary opened 11 months ago--the developer plans to request 2026 race dates from the Kentucky Horse Racing and Gaming Corporation. "We are excited to begin this phase of our project, which will be unlike anything else in the state," said Larry Lucas, chairman...

Funeral services for trainer Chuck Simon will be held Monday, Sept. 16 at the Catricala Funeral home, 1597 Route 9, Clifton Park, NY. Viewing hours are from noon to 2 p.m. ET, with a service to follow from 2 to 2:30 p.m. ET. A round-trip private plane from Lexington has been arranged. Individuals wishing further information on that flight should contact Carlo Vaccarezza at 561-714-6019. Simon, who trained for 20 years before retiring in 2019, died Sunday in Saratoga Springs, New York after a bout with cancer. He was 57...