Cannon among those sticking around for Turfway meet

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – With vastly improved purses in the maiden-special and allowance categories at Turfway Park, Declan Cannon is among the first riders to declare that he will be staying put in Kentucky through the winter instead of moving elsewhere.

Churchill Downs Inc. agreed last month to buy Turfway, the northern Kentucky track that had seen business plummet in recent years. Including bonuses from the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund, maiden races start at $46,000 and allowances at $46,500, more than double the level to which they had fallen. Nearly four months of winter action starts Dec. 4.

Trainers who intend to race considerably more at Turfway than in recent seasons include Ian Wilkes, Ben Colebrook, Ignacio Correas, Vicki Oliver, and Jack Sisterson. They’ll join Turfway mainstays such as Mike Maker and Wesley Ward in making for a more competitive product.

Cannon, 32, rode 21 winners last winter at Tampa Bay Downs. He has five wins at the current Churchill meet after winning four at Keeneland.

Churchill has announced it will undertake a massive renovation of Turfway as soon as racing ends in late March.

◗ Wednesday marks the first day here for jockey Martin Garcia, who recently announced his departure from Southern California to try a Midwest circuit. Garcia, who has won such major races as the Preakness and Breeders’ Cup Classic, is named on two mounts Wednesday and three Thursday.

◗ Trainer Peter Miller won with all three starters here last weekend and now has won with 12 of his last 22 Churchill starters, dating to the spring meet. One of his Saturday winners came in a second-level allowance with Proud Emma, a 3-year-old filly who fared respectably in three graded stakes earlier this year. Miller is based primarily in Southern California.

◗ Jockey Florent Geroux has gone 7 for 16 since returning from a four-week absence, with Mr. Misunderstood in the River City on Saturday among his winners. Geroux returned Nov. 9 after being sidelined with a broken sternum suffered in an Oct. 13 training spill at Keeneland.

◗ Jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. is returning to his Louisiana homeland for the winter after going one-and-done at Gulfstream Park last year. Hernandez will be among the many Churchill jockeys riding regularly at Fair Grounds in New Orleans when the fall meet ends Dec. 1. Hernandez went 23 for 258 at the 2018-19 Gulfstream meet.