Color this all-grass meet green
Kentucky Downs begins a five-day meet Saturday with bigger purses than ever and field sizes that most bettors rave about.
Get this: Kentucky Downs is offering more than $1 million per card this month, although that comes with an asterisk. Much of that astounding figure actually is bonus money that may not be paid out. Half of the purses for stakes, allowances, and 2-year-old maidens are allocated only to horses eligible to the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund.
Still, it’s the kind of silly money that has horsemen and fans buzzing, and it’s a major reason that average field size for a terrific 10-race Saturday opener is 11, which doesn’t even count a slew of also-eligibles.
“We’re excited,” said C.J. Johnsen, the track spokesman whose father, Corey, has overseen a perpetual transformation of Kentucky Downs since he and partners bought it in 2007. “We’ve gotten calls from horsemen everywhere about sending their horses here, and you can see that in the entries.”
Located on the south-central border adjacent to Tennessee, Kentucky Downs offers a style of racing unlike most anywhere in America. The turf-only course is irregularly shaped, with undulating terrain being a main feature of its approximately 1 3/8-mile circumference. There is no tote board (television monitors are located in key areas), and the stretch run of nearly three furlongs can easily confuse a simulcast viewer as to where the race actually ends.
A quiet, spacious paddock looks as if it was set up just somewhere out in a field, which it was. A bare-bones wooden structure situated on an unadorned finish line houses the stewards, placing judges, photo-finish equipment, and race-caller Jon Lies. Horsemen, jockeys, and fans alike mix and mingle around this central location; a dozen mutuel windows under a plain-roofed shelter are close by. Carnival-style trailers serve as concession stands, although some fans bring baskets and coolers and sprawl out on blankets to make a day of it. It’s quaint, it’s country, and it’s cool.
The opening-day card is anchored by a new $250,000 race, the Dueling Grounds Derby, which drew a field of 10 3-year-olds. The program also includes two $200,000 stakes for 2-year-olds, allowance races of $102,000 and $100,000, and maiden races of $90,000 and $80,000 (again, all include KTDF funds).
The track’s richest day ever will be next Saturday, Sept. 13, when four stakes will be held, topped by the $600,000 Kentucky Turf Cup. The other three days of the meet are Wednesdays: Sept. 10, 17, and 24.
The Dueling Grounds Derby is named in honor of what this track was called when first opened in 1990. Run at the nearly once-around distance of 1 5/16 miles, it drew Medal Count and Global View as favorites.
First post daily is 1:35 p.m. Central. Saturday post times have been coordinated to avoid conflicts with an 11-race card at Churchill Downs.
KEY CONTENDERS
Medal Count (Last 3 Beyers: 71-99-86)
◗ Having tried him in the Kentucky Derby and other major events, trainer Dale Romans is eager to see what this colt can do on grass. “We’ve always felt the turf would be a good fallback option for us,” he said.
Global View (Last 3 Beyers: 87-85-89)
◗ This Glen Hill Farm colt has spent much of the year knocking heads with such 3-year-old turf elites as Adelaide, Bobby’s Kitten, and Mr Speaker, so he concedes nothing to anyone.
◗ Comes well drawn in post 3 with the hot apprentice Drayden Van Dyke riding.
Can’thelpbelieving (Last 3 Beyers: 85-88-84)
◗ Authoritative allowance score in his latest at Saratoga should set up this Graham Motion trainee for a productive fall grass campaign.