Kentucky regulators to consider Keeneland request for July meet

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Race Dates Committee of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission has scheduled a meeting for Wednesday to consider a special request by Keeneland Racecourse to run five live racing dates in July.

The committee will consider an agreement recently reached between Keeneland and Ellis Park that would allow Keeneland to run from July 8-12, overlapping dates that had been awarded to Ellis Park late last year, prior to the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Keeneland announced the agreement late Friday night.

The committee is expected to approve the request. Earlier this year, it approved an agreement between Churchill Downs and Ellis that gave Churchill the rights to five racing dates in early September so that the Kentucky Derby and its lead-up cards could be held. The Derby this year is scheduled for Sept. 5.

The full KHRC would still need to approve the request after the dates committee hearing. The KHRC typically approves any request that has already been endorsed by the Race Dates Committee.

Keeneland, which canceled its spring meet outright earlier this year, has said that the five race dates will be conducted spectator-free. The track plans to hold 10 stakes during the brief meet, including its traditional Kentucky Derby prep, the Grade 2, $600,000 Blue Grass Stakes, which has been scheduled for July 11.