Churchill gets going again with opening of September meeting

Churchill Downs will open its brief, 14-day September meet on Thursday, and if it’s a quiet opening, perhaps that’s because Churchill would prefer it that way.

Earlier this year, on June 2, Churchill announced that the remaining live racing days in its spring-summer meet would be held at Ellis Park, in reaction to a spate of horse deaths that had generated an intense amount of media coverage at the famous track, the home of the Kentucky Derby. Although some local horsemen complained about the move, the abrupt send-off quieted the noise.

Since then, Churchill, the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, and the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority have conducted a joint investigation into the spate of deaths, but the organizations have yet to announce that they have uncovered any smoking gun underlying the deaths (HISA was to release a report on the results of its own investigation on Tuesday).

Still, the meet that begins on Thursday will go forward with some minor changes that grew out what Churchill called an “internal safety review” following the cessation of live racing in June, including more frequent testing of its racing surfaces and a reliance on a new safety committee for “real-time feedback on areas of improvement.”

In addition, according to Churchill’s condition book, horses that have been beaten by 12 lengths or more in five consecutive starts will not be allowed to run unless granted approval by Churchill’s equine medical director. Horses will be limited to four starts in any rolling eight-week period as well. Churchill also has placed restrictions and qualifications on 4-year-old first-time starters and horses coming off a layoff of one year or more.

Churchill has, however, reinstated purse payments to horses finishing sixth or worse, at 1.5 percent of the purse. Those payments were suspended as of June 1, through the end of the Ellis meet, under the belief that the allocations may have encouraged horsemen to run unfit horses.

The controversy surrounding the deaths has obscured the incredible gains made on the Kentucky circuit over the past five years since Churchill decided to embrace historical horse racing machines.

The Thursday card that starts at 5 p.m. Eastern has eight races with total purses of $710,000 (counting money only available to Kentucky-breds), with nary a stakes on the card. A starter allowance for horses that have started for $50,000 or less has a purse of $70,000. The last race on the card, for $16,000 claimers, has a purse of $31,000 and drew a field of 11.

Nominally, the feature is a $134,000 allowance race going 1 1/8 miles on the turf that drew a full field of 12 horses with five also-eligibles. Yamato, a winner of nine lifetime starts from 28 races, with $253,000 in total earnings, is the 5-2 favorite out of Mike Maker’s barn, dropping down from two starts in graded stakes races.

The meet runs Thursday through Sunday during the first week, with Wednesday cards being added for the last two weeks. All three Thursday cards will have a first post of 5 p.m., and the Saturday, Sept. 23, card will have a first post of 6 p.m. The highlight of the meet comes Sept. 30, with the running of the Grade 2, $500,000 Lukas Classic and the Grade 3, $400,000 Ack Ack Stakes, which is a Win and You’re In for the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile.

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