Kentucky Downs to card two races for jumpers

FRANKFORT, KY. - A pair of races for jumpers will be added to the Sept. 5 opening day card at Kentucky Downs, following unanimous approval Monday from the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission.

The $40,000 Sport of Kings Maiden Hurdle for 4-year-old and up steeplechase maidens will be held over 2 1/4 miles on the Kentucky Downs undulating turf course. It will be contested as a non-parimutuel event under the rules of the National Steeplechase Association, and the purse for the race will come from the Kentucky Downs operating account.

Commissioner Edward Bonnie spoke in favor of the races, and noted that the track’s nearest major market, Nashville, Tenn., about 40 miles away, hosts the Iroquois Steeplechase, one of the premier jump meets in North America. Bonnie said that steeplechase meet draws more than 30,000 people.

“When those people hear there’s going to be a hurdle race at Kentucky Downs, they will show up," he said. "I think it’s not only a good financial deal for the racetrack and Kentucky, but I think it’s a good public relations tool.”

Also added to the card was a 1 1/2-mile parimutuel flat race for jumpers. The $50,000 race is open to 4-year-olds and up which have started over fences in a race run under the auspices of the National Steeplechase Association. The race will have a flag start instead of the usual starting gate.

The flat race will be run under KHRC rules, and half of the purse will be funded by the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund.

“The National Steeplechase Association cards races like this all over the country,” Bonnie said. “Trainers elect to run their steeplechase horses on the flat from time to time because there’s less risk and they want to get them fit. This is a particularly good time for them to do this.”

Commissioner Foster Northrop expressed concerns about the race’s viability from a handicapper’s perspective, but Bonnie assured the board that it would be attractive to horseplayers.

“It’s handicap-able,” Bonnie said. “It’s a challenge, but all racing betting is a challenge. Certainly in the East this type of race is run fairly often, and I think it will be a good draw and a good betting race.”

Kentucky hosts one regular steeplechase meet, High Hope Steeplechase at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington. The course hosted four Thoroughbred jump races and a flat Arabian race, all non-wagering, during its 2015 meet.

Kentucky Downs opened as a steeplechase-exclusive venue in 1990, and made an immediate splash with the $750,000 Dueling Grounds International Hurdle Stakes, the richest steeplechase race in North American history. The track switched to flat racing in its third year, but has intermittently hosted jump races. Kentucky Downs will host five live dates in 2015, between Sept. 5-19.

The board also unanimously approved on Monday a proposal to use money from its Backside Improvement Fund to convert heaters in the tack rooms at Turfway Park from propane to electric.

In a letter to the KHRC, Turfway Park general manager Daniel Bach said the open-flame propane heating units have an average age of over 20 years, with some having already passed their useful operating life cycle.

Switching to electric heaters, Bach wrote, would also prevent carbon monoxide issues, remove the need to relight pilot lights that are blown out in heavy winds, and create additional space on the backside with the removal of the propane tanks. The project was quoted at $112,840.