Holiday meet begins with big fields
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The first serious snowfall in Kentucky was expected on Tuesday, but the long winter meet at Turfway Park begins on Wednesday and could heat things up with large fields and a lucrative stakes schedule.
Turfway, in Florence, Ky., across the river from Cincinnati, officially splits its four-month slot into two meets. The Holiday meet opens Wednesday and conducts night racing through Dec. 27 on a Wednesday-through-Saturday schedule, with the exception of being dark on Dec. 24, 25, and 31. The winter-spring meet immediately follows, opening on Jan. 1 and running through March 28.
Wednesday’s nine-race program is a hint of what’s to come in the Holiday meet. The nine-race card on the Tapeta has drawn 114 entrants, while the December 2024 Holiday meet had an average field size of more than 10 horses. Topped by an allowance with a $102,000 purse, total purses for Wednesday’s card are $504,200.
The Holiday meet boasts record purses for its stand, with maiden special weight races worth $100,000 and allowances up to $106,000, fueled by support from the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund.
The Holiday meet is highlighted by seven stakes worth a total of $1,375,000. The majority of that will be doled out on Dec. 13 at the second edition of the Synthetic Championships, as four stakes – the Prairie Bayou, Holiday Cheer, Holiday Inaugural, and My Charmer – offer $250,000 each.
The winter-spring meet offers $3,977,000 in stakes purses across 20 stakes. The schedule is anchored by the Grade 3, $777,000 Jeff Ruby Steaks on March 21, a Kentucky Derby prep offering its top finishers points toward the spring classic on a 100-50-25-15-10 scale. There are five stakes on the undercard, led by the Grade 3, $300,000 Kentucky Cup Classic for older horses, and the $300,000 Bourbonette Oaks, which awards Kentucky Oaks points on a 50-25-15-10-5 scale.
Turfway cards local preps toward the Ruby and Bourbonette, respectively, with the $175,000 John Battaglia Memorial on Feb. 21, with Derby points awarded on a 20-10-6-4-2 scale, and, one night earlier, the $175,000 Cincinnati Trophy, with Oaks points awarded on the same basis.
On the first Saturday night of this stand, Turfway Park will honor its all-time leading rider, Perry Ouzts, with a ceremony officially renaming the facility’s jockey quarters in his honor. Ouzts, 71, ranks fifth all-time among North American jockeys by wins, has ridden in a record number of races, and is the oldest rider to win a race on this continent.
Taking up residence in the jockey quarters this winter, along with Ouzts, will be a number of national and local leading riders. Six-time Turfway meet leader Gerardo Corrales, who has not raced since late May with an arm injury, is named on four horses on Thursday night as he returns to action. Standouts last season who are returning for the meet include Luan Machado, Irving Moncada, Fernando De La Cruz, Adam Beschizza, and three-time Turfway Park leading rider Julien Leparoux.
A new addition to the jockey colony is Dylan Machado, younger brother of Luan. He arrived in the U.S. from Brazil in November and notched his first North American victory last Friday at Churchill Downs.
“To be here riding in the same place as Luan is very special,” Machado told Churchill personnel. “We’ve dreamed about this for a long time.”
In a press release, track publicity reported that the backstretch at Turfway Park is “at capacity.” Nationally prominent trainers, all ranking in the top 100 by earnings in this year, with a presence on the backstretch include Steve Asmussen, Whit Beckman, Rodolphe Brisset, Mark Casse, Brad Cox, Kelsey Danner, Cherie DeVaux, Brian Lynch, Mike Maker, Michael McCarthy, Larry Rivelli, Joe Sharp, Mike Stidham, Will Walden, Brendan Walsh, and Wesley Ward.
They are joined by local mainstays such as Tommy Drury Jr., Eric Foster, Eoin Harty, who maintains a winter base for the powerhouse Godolphin operation, and Ethan West, who burst onto the national scene this year with Turfway-based Chunk of Gold.
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