Short September meet opens with plentiful entries

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – A rite of September that began three years ago has evolved into a key link on the Kentucky racing circuit as Churchill Downs begins an 11-day meet Friday with a 10-race card.

In 2013, Churchill assumed September dates from Turfway Park that largely intertwined with dates at Kentucky Downs, but after a few years of trial and error and cooperative backroom dealings, there are no overlaps this year. This revised schedule has met with great satisfaction from horsemen, fans, and the racetracks themselves. With Ellis Park also on the upswing and Kentucky Downs paying out surreal purses, there’s now a bridge of greater stability between spring and fall, when the best racing in Kentucky traditionally takes place.

A Friday opener that drew 119 horses (including also-eligibles) illustrates hope of an improved product for this time of year at Churchill, where the field size averaged slightly below eight horses per race during the three preceding September meets. A pair of allowance races anchor a program Friday that starts at 12:45 p.m. Eastern.

Darren Rogers, senior director of communications, said purses are expected to average $375,000 per program at a meet that runs through Oct. 2, and that entries figure to be up over last year.

“This has proved to be a popular spot for Kentucky horsemen,” said Rogers. “It looks like a great start to the meet.”

Stakes action takes full flight Saturday with a quartet of six-figure races, led by a pair of events for 2-year-olds that offer Win and You’re In berths toward the Nov. 4-5 Breeders’ Cup as well as the first qualifying points for the 2017 Kentucky Derby and Oaks. They’re the Grade 2, $200,000 Pocahontas and the Grade 3, $150,000 Iroquois, both set for 1 1/16 miles.

The Grade 3, $100,000 Locust Grove and the $100,000 Open Mind also will be run Saturday, when a special first post of 2:30 p.m. has been set to accommodate the Florida State-Louisville football game at nearby Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium.

In all, eight stakes are on the schedule for the meet, including the $100,000 Ack Ack, which is expected to feature the eagerly awaited return of Eclipse sprint champion Runhappy, and the $175,000 Lukas Classic, both on Oct. 1.

Mark Casse, the leading trainer at a spring meet that ended July 2, can be expected to contend for another title, along with Mike Maker and Steve Asmussen.

“This is a different type of meet,” said Casse. “I sure wouldn’t make the prediction that we’ll be leading trainer again, but we do have a lot of young horses to run and get started. We’ve got Thirstforlife in the Iroquois and Dream Dance in the Pocahontas, and we have some maiden 2-year-olds that ran well at Saratoga and some good first-time starters we couldn’t get in at Kentucky Downs.”

Any discussion of the top jockeys at Churchill starts with Corey Lanerie, who has topped the standings at 11 of the last 12 meets here. Lanerie was the leading jockey this summer at the 30-day Ellis meet.

Other jockeys at the meet include Florent Geroux, who comes off another dominating meet at Kentucky Downs, as well as perennial fan favorites Julien Leparoux, Calvin Borel, Robby Albarado, and Shaun Bridgmohan.

The Churchill wagering menu includes the return of the single six, which came to a great crescendo at the spring meet with nearly $2.2 million in closing-day handle and a payout of $38,045 for every winning 20-cent ticket. The single six is held on the final six races of each card.

After this opening three-day weekend, Churchill will run two four-day weeks (Thursday to Sunday). First post daily is 12:45 p.m. with the exception of opening Saturday, both Thursdays (5 p.m.), and Sept. 24 (6 p.m.).

The Churchill fall meet runs Oct. 30 to Nov. 27.