It's been 13 years since Churchill Downs' Trackside Louisville remained open for winter training and several outfits are eager to keep horses in Louisville to run at Turfway Park when the Florence, Kentucky track begins its Holiday Meet on Wednesday night.
“It's great to be able to keep a string of horses home for the winter,” trainer Greg Foley said, who was mainstay at Turfway for several years prior to spending the winters at Fair Grounds. “We'll keep about 12 horses here and still have a full barn down in New Orleans at Fair Grounds. This gives us an option to see if some of our horses will like the Tapeta surface, and you can't argue with the purses up at Turfway. They're great.”
Churchill Downs Inc. acquired Turfway Park in 2019 and replaced its Polytrack with a new $8.1-million Tapeta surface. In addition, there was an additional $31 million invested in the track's backside stable area to improve dormitories for track workers, add five new barns, and install new storm water collection systems to improve the environment around the facility.
Among the trainers joining Foley at Trackside include Juan Cano, Brad Cox, Michael McCarthy, Helen Pitts-Blasi, and Dale Romans. Trainers already based at Trackside such as Whit Beckman, Cherie DeVaux, Tim Glyshaw, and Mike Maker are all scheduled to keep horses there this winter.
Winter training hours at Trackside will be 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. (ET).
Among the regular Churchill Downs jockeys scheduled to remain at Turfway include Rafael Bejarano, Vince Cheminaud, Gerardo Corrales, Jack Gilligan, Chris Landeros, and Joe Rocco Jr.
The Turfway Park Holiday Meet will run Nov. 30-Dec. 31. The Winter Meet will then continue from Jan. 5-April 1.
The post ‘It’s Great To Be Able To Keep A String Of Horses Home’: Trainers Begin To Settle Into Trackside Louisville For Winter Training appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
