Kentucky racing shifts to Churchill Downs on Sunday
RACE REPLAY IS NOT AVAILABLE
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – They must be gluttons for horse racing. No sooner will the Breeders’ Cup be concluded Saturday at Keeneland than racing fans will start begging for something else to bet on. They’ll get their wish quickly enough.
Some 75 miles west, Churchill Downs will open its 21-day fall meet with a 10-race card on Sunday made up of all 2-year-old races, billed as the Stars of Tomorrow card. The first race starts at 12:40 p.m. Eastern.
No fewer than 130 2-year-olds (including 17 also-eligibles) are on the Sunday program, which includes twin $80,000 overnight stakes, the Street Sense and Rags to Riches. It’s enough to sate even the hungriest horseplayer.
After Sunday, Churchill goes dark for two days, and then everyone can settle into a less-frantic routine.
Churchill will run four straight five-day weeks (Wednesdays through Sundays) through the end of the month, with the biggest races being saved, as usual, for the final few days. The Grade 1 Clark on Nov. 27 will be the highlight of six graded stakes to be run during Thanksgiving week. Dortmund, an easy recent winner at Santa Anita for Bob Baffert, is among the early prospects for the $500,000 Clark.
A second Stars of Tomorrow program will be run Nov. 28 and will be anchored by the Golden Rod and Kentucky Jockey Club stakes. Closing day is Nov. 29. In all, 13 stakes worth just more than $2.1 million are on the schedule.
Louisville native Dale Romans, the leading trainer here last fall with 14 winners, is coming out firing, with starters in seven of the 10 opening-day races, the most of any trainer.
“It’s that time of year,” said Romans. “We’ll have a bunch to run all meet, hopefully. It’s always one of our goals to be the top barn here at home.”
Corey Lanerie, the leading jockey at nine of the last 10 Churchill meets, is back, fresh from his first Keeneland riding title.
Churchill has tweaked its mutuels offerings ever so slightly, with a new 20-cent pick six wager with a 15 percent takeout replacing a pick seven wager – called the Lucky 7 – which never took off with fans.
On closing weekend (Nov. 26-29), Churchill is planning to unveil a Kentucky Derby Sire Future Wager for the first time in conjunction with Pool 1 in the 2016 Derby Future Wager.
This is the third straight year Churchill will have conducted three meets, with a September meet having joined the spring and fall meets in 2013.
◗ Winning mutuel tickets from the Breeders’ Cup can be redeemed at Churchill or any wagering facility in Kentucky, including the Red Mile in Lexington. Keeneland no longer hosts offseason simulcasting.