Ellis Park cancels Sunday card after overnight fire destroys receiving barn

Ellis Park in Henderson, Ky., canceled its Sunday racing card after an overnight fire destroyed its receiving barn, track officials said.

No horses were seriously injured, according to racing secretary Dan Bork, who said seven horses were removed from the barn when the fire began at approximately 4 a.m., although one horse was described as having a “minor injury.” The receiving barn holds ship-ins from other racetracks.

No humans were in the barn at the time the fire started, racing officials said.

Local fire officials told Ellis Park representatives Sunday morning that they believed the fire's cause was electrical, and that no foul play was suspected. The barn was completely destroyed.

Ellis Park also canceled all training Sunday morning. Ellis Park’s next live racing day is Friday, and track officials said they expected to run live that day. The track is running on a Friday-through-Sunday schedule this year.

The fire occurred just hours after a 2-year-old filly entered in Saturday’s first race booted her rider, jumped the fence, and ran approximately six miles down a local highway, in full racing tack. The filly, Bold and Bossy, was corralled and returned uninjured to her trainer, Michael Ann Ewing.

“The good news is she’s fine,” said Ewing, who also owns Bold and Bossy. “What a disaster it could have been. By the grace of God she wasn’t hit. I hear she was almost hit, and thank God she wasn’t hit.”