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Live Racing Returns To Churchill Thursday; New Turf Course Won’t Be Ready Until Spring 2022

Horse racing on the booming Kentucky circuit shifts to Churchill Downs on Thursday, Sept. 16 with the first of three Twilight Thursday programs at 5 p.m. (all times Eastern) as the famed Louisville racetrack opens its ninth September Meet for an action-packed 12-date run through Sunday, Oct. 3.

Thursday's eight-race opener lured 82 entries, including a field of eight fillies and mares for the featured seventh race, a $134,000 second-level allowance at 1 1/8 miles. The program also has a first-level allowance for 3-year-olds and up at 6 ½ furlongs (Race 6) and a $120,000 maiden special weight for 2-year-olds at six furlongs (Race 5).

Each of the September Meet's 117 scheduled races will be contested on the main dirt track. In July, Churchill Downs began work to install a new $10 million turf course that will be ready for turf racing to resume at the start of the 2022 Spring Meet.

Horsemen will compete for more than $12.3 million (all purses include prize money from the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund) offered in Vice President of Racing Ben Huffman's September Meet condition book, including an 11-race stakes schedule cumulatively worth $3.26 million.

Five stakes races, including two important fixtures for juveniles that could produce starters in this year's Breeders' Cup and next spring's Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve (Grade 1) and the Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1), will be showcased in primetime under the lights on Saturday as part of Downs After Dark presented by Budweiser.

The $300,000 Iroquois (G3) kicks off the “Road to the Kentucky Derby” series (Top 4 Points: 10-4-2-1), while the $300,000 Pocahontas (G3) starts the “Road to the Kentucky Oaks” (Top 4 Points: 10-4-2-1). Additionally, both 1 1/16-mile races are Breeders' Cup “Win and You're In” Challenge events, which means the winners will receive automatic berths in the starting gate for their respective Breeders' Cup races on Nov. 5 at Del Mar with full entry fees and travel expenses paid.

Two Saratoga maiden winners are under consideration for the Iroquois: the Todd Pletcher-trained Major General and Stellar Tap, who gave Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen his North American record-breaking 9,446th career win. Ellis Park Juvenile one-two, Roger McQueen and Lucky Boss, and Ellis Park maiden winner Guntown also could run. Hidden Connection, a fast 7 ½-length winner in her debut at Colonial Downs for trainer Bret Calhoun, and trainer Norm Casse's Debutante runner-up Ontheonesandtwos are among the fillies likely to run in the Pocahontas.

Meanwhile Distaff and Filly & Mare Sprint prospects may surface in a pair of Saturday stakes for fillies and mares, the $400,000 Locust Grove (G3) over 1 1/16 miles and the $300,000 Open Mind (Listed) at six furlongs. Last year's Kentucky Oaks (G1) winner Shedaresthedevil, winner of this year's La Troienne (G1) and Clement L. Hirsch (G1) for trainer Brad Cox, is likely to headline the Locust Grove against trainer Kenny McPeek's Envoutante, who won last year's Falls City (G2) and this year's Shawnee at Churchill Downs. Winning Colors (G3) winner Sconsin, conditioned by Greg Foley, is expected for the Open Mind.

The inaugural $275,000 Louisville Thoroughbred Society, an open sprint for 3-year-olds and up at six furlongs, wraps the stakes-laden program. Streaking stakes winner Bango, trained by Foley, is expected to run in pursuit of his seventh Churchill Downs victory.

Entries for Saturday night's 11-race card will be taken Wednesday morning.

Thoroughbred Racing will meet Louisville Cardinals Basketball when Louisville Live, the University of Louisville's annual preseason basketball event, comes to Churchill Downs for Downs After Dark. To celebrate the theme of “Horses & Hoops,” fans are encouraged to wear Cardinals gear to this one-of-a-kind experience that will bring together two Louisville sports legacies under the famed Twin Spires. Gates will open at 5 p.m. with the first race scheduled to begin at 6 p.m.

Other marque events during the September Meet include the $275,000 Dogwood (G3) for 3-year-old fillies at seven furlongs on Saturday, Sept. 25. The eventual Champion Female Sprinter Covfefe used the race in 2019 as a springboard to a successful run in the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (G1) at Santa Anita. Also on Sept. 25 are the newly-created $275,000 Bourbon Trail for 3-year-olds at 1 3/16 miles and $275,000 Harrods Creek for 3-year-olds at seven furlongs.

Closing weekend is anchored by the $400,000 Lukas Classic (G3) for 3-year-olds and up at 1 1/8 miles and honors Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas, the iconic four-time winner of the Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks and conditioner of 26 Eclipse Award-winning champions who has been based at Churchill Downs' Barn 44 since 1989.

Knicks Go, the top-ranked horse in the NTRA Top Thoroughbred Poll after convincing wins in this year's Pegasus World Cup (G1) at Gulfstream Park and Whitney (G1) at Saratoga, is expected to prep for the Breeders' Cup's $6 million Longines Classic in the Saturday, Oct. 2 Lukas Classic, according to Cox.

Also run that day is the $300,000 Ack Ack (G3) for Dirt Mile prospects. The new $160,000 Seneca Overnight Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at 1 1/16 miles will be run Friday, Oct. 1.

Churchill Downs' 12-day meet will be staged over three weekends through Sunday, Oct. 2 with racing on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Outside of the three Twilight Thursdays (5 p.m.) and Saturday night's lone Downs After Dark (6 p.m.), the first race for all other race days will be 12:45 p.m. (admission gates open at 11:30 a.m.). Eight races are scheduled on Thursdays with 10-race programs on Fridays and Sundays. Eleven races will be showcased each Saturday.

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2022 Road To The Kentucky Derby: Points Will Not Be Awarded To Horses Trained By Suspended Individuals

The official “Road to the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve” will begin Saturday, Sept. 18 at the home of America's greatest race as Churchill Downs stages the $300,000 Iroquois (Grade 3) for 2-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles on opening weekend of its 12-day September Meet.

The “Road to the Kentucky Derby,” a series of select races that award a sliding scale of points to the Top 4 finishers, has determined preference for its 20-horse Kentucky Derby (Grade 1) field since 2013. The 1 ¼-mile classic for 3-year-old Thoroughbreds will be run at the historic Louisville, Ky. racetrack for the 148th consecutive year on Saturday, May 7, 2022.

As was the case this year, the 2022 Kentucky Derby will be run without the permitted use of Furosemide (often referred to by the brand name, Lasix). Points will only be awarded to horses who compete on race day without Lasix in Road to the Kentucky Derby races.

Effective Sept. 30, 2021, points from any race in the “Road to the Kentucky Derby” will not be awarded to any horse trained by any individual who is suspended from racing in the 2022 Kentucky Derby or any trainer directly or indirectly employed, supervised, or advised by a suspended trainer. Should a horse trained by a suspended trainer, or any trainer directly or indirectly employed, supervised, or advised by a suspended trainer, finish in a position that would have earned points in a “Road to the Kentucky Derby” race occurring after Sept. 30, 2021, the points associated with that finish position will be vacated.

The same rules apply for the “Road to the Kentucky Oaks” series, which awards points to fillies to qualify for the Longines Kentucky Oaks (GI) at 1 1/8 miles on Friday, May 6, 2022.

The total number of races in the primary “Road to the Kentucky Derby” series has increased by one to 37. The inaugural $100,000 Gun Runner, a 1 1/16-mile race for 2-year-olds at Fair Grounds on Sunday, Dec. 26, has been added to the “Prep Season” and is worth 10-4-2-1 to the top four placings.

Additionally, the new $100,000 Untapable, a one mile and 70-yard race for 2-year-old fillies that same race day at Fair Grounds, has been added to the Oaks series, which features a total of 32 races.

This is the 10th consecutive year that Churchill Downs has used a point system to determine entrants for its famed Kentucky Derby. At least 20 horses have entered the “Run for the Roses” in 20 of the last 23 years and every year from 2004-19.

The Iroquois, which will be run under the lights as part of Churchill Downs' “Downs After Dark” nighttime racing card on Sept. 18, will again kick off the 21-race “Prep Season,” which features foundation-building races over a minimum of one mile between mid-September and mid-February. Points awarded during the “Prep Season” are worth 10-4-2-1 to the top four placings, respectively, except for the Nov. 5 Breeders' Cup Juvenile (GI) at Del Mar, which is worth twice as much (20-8-4-2).

In addition to the Iroquois and Breeders' Cup Juvenile, “Prep Season” races include the American Pharoah (Santa Anita), Champagne (Belmont), Breeders' Futurity (Keeneland), Kentucky Jockey Club (Churchill Downs), Remsen (Aqueduct), Springboard Mile (Remington Park), Los Alamitos Futurity (Los Alamitos), Gun Runner (Fair Grounds), Smarty Jones (Oaklawn Park), Jerome (Aqueduct), Sham (Santa Anita), Lecomte (Fair Grounds), Southwest (Oaklawn Park), Holy Bull (Gulfstream Park), Robert B. Lewis (Santa Anita), Sam F. Davis (Tampa Bay Downs), Withers (Aqueduct), El Camino Real Derby (Golden Gate) and John Battaglia Memorial (Turfway Park).

The 16-race “Championship Series” comprise springboard events that often bring the 3-year-old picture into sharper focus. First leg races offer 50-20-10-5 points to the Top 4 finishers: the Risen Star (Fair Grounds), Rebel (Oaklawn Park), Fountain of Youth (Gulfstream Park), Gotham (Aqueduct), Tampa Bay Derby (Tampa Bay Downs), San Felipe (Santa Anita) and Sunland Derby (Sunland Park).

The most meaningful races are worth 100-40-20-10: the UAE Derby (Meydan Racecouse), Louisiana Derby (Fair Grounds), Florida Derby (Gulfstream Park), Arkansas Derby (Oaklawn Park), Jeff Ruby Steaks (Turfway Park), Wood Memorial (Aqueduct), Blue Grass (Keeneland) and Santa Anita Derby (Santa Anita). Additionally, the Lexington (Keeneland) offers points on a scale of 20-8-4-2 to the first four placings.

In addition to the primary “Road to the Kentucky Derby” series, there are two separate series that each carve out one spot for a potential horse from Europe and Japan.

The sixth-year “Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby” series again features four races: Cattleya (10-4-2-1 at Tokyo), Zen-Nippon Nisai Yushun (20-8-4-2 at Kawasaki), Hyacinth (30-12-6-3 at Tokyo) and Fukuryu (40-16-8-4 at Nakayama).

The fifth-year “European Road to the Kentucky Derby” again showcases seven races: the Juddmonte Royal Lodge (10-4-2-1 at Newmarket), Alan Smurfit Memorial Beresford (10-4-2-1 at Curragh), Qatar Prix Jean-Luc Lagardère (10-4-2-1 at Longchamp), Vertem Futurity Trophy (10-4-2-1 at Doncaster), Road to the Kentucky Derby Condition Stakes (20-8-4-2 at Kempton Park), Patton Stakes (20-8-4-2 at Dundalk) and Cardinal Condition Stakes (30-12-6-3 at Chelmsford City).

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PAHBPA Swats Back at Presque Isle in Counterclaim Over ADW ‘Money Grab’

In an ongoing dispute over whether Presque Isle Downs (PID) has been steering on-track patrons to make bets through advance-deposit wager (ADW) platforms controlled by its corporate parent and then not counting those bets as on-track wagers that provide better revenue for purses, the Pennsylvania Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (PAHBPA) swatted back in federal court with a Sept. 7 counterclaim to claw back at least $75,000 in disputed funds.

PID had fired the first salvo of litigation on June 24 in the form of a civil lawsuit that sought to block the PAHBPA's “unsupported allegations” from going to arbitration.

According to court documents, the horsemen and the track have been squabbling over this issue since February 2020, and went through 16 months of airing grievances via demand letters and committees without coming to a resolution. PID then took the matter to United States District Court (Eastern District of Pennsylvania) to try and block an attempt at arbitration.

Beyond the PHBPA's initial allegation that the purse account has been shorted at least $75,000 so far, any ruling in this case could be a precedent-setter that would determine how the betting revenue gets split moving forward.

PID's corporate parent is Churchill Downs, Inc., (CDI). The disputed on-track bets are allegedly getting steered to ADW platforms like TwinSpires that are controlled by another CDI-owned entity, the Churchill Downs Technology Initiatives Company (CDTIC).

Additionally, the PAHBPA had argued during the grievance process that the source market fee (derived from ADW bets made by in-state residents) that PID agreed to with CDTIC is too low in comparison to industry standards.

In its lawsuit, PID had countered that “PID does not own the majority of CDTIC. CDTIC is a separate legal entity from PID.”

The PAHBPA's Sept. 7 response and counterclaim states that “PID's purported declaratory judgment action is nothing more than an improper attempt to further delay resolution of PID's contractual breaches and cause PAHBPA to incur unnecessary legal costs and expenses.

“By way of further response, PID's ultimate parent, [CDI], through its subsidiaries, has employed similar tactics against horsemen's organizations like PAHBPA in other states. In any event, PID is not entitled to the declaratory judgment it seeks, as the underlying contractual disputes between PAHBPA and PID clearly fall within the scope of the arbitration language of the PID Live Racing Agreement…

“PID has breached and continues to breach the Live Racing Agreement, which breaches are the subject of the underlying claims PAHBPA has elected to submit to arbitration….PID has manufactured this 'controversy' over arbitrability out of whole cloth, and the complete lack of support for PID's strained positions indicates that PID's Complaint may have been filed for an improper purpose, particularly when viewed in the context in which PID commenced this action.”

The filing continues: “By way of example only, and upon information and belief, PID has purposely understaffed the wagering locations within the racetrack enclosure at Presque Isle Downs, thereby making it more difficult to place wagers within the racetrack enclosure and encouraging patrons to place wagers through PID's electronic wagering system instead.”

Back on June 24, PID's initial complaint stated that “PAHBPA's asserted allegations of breach are nothing more than a money grab without legal merit….PAHBPA's asserted allegations are an attempt to renegotiate through arbitration a long standing contractual provision, that with the benefit of hindsight and changed circumstances, they now disfavor.”

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Arlington: Former President’s Racing Preservation Bid Reported To Be One Of Three Finalists

Mike Campbell, president of the Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association, told the Chicago Daily-Herald that former Arlington president Roy Arnold's bid to purchase the iconic racetrack from Churchill Downs is one of three finalists under consideration. He added that the Chicago Bears and another group seeking to preserve racing are the other two finalists, but Churchill Downs has not confirmed the information.

Campbell helped organize the consortium led by Arnold, and revealed that there have been three rounds of bidding since Churchill's initial June 15 deadline. Arnold has increased his offer several times, Campbell said.

“They have the ability to close immediately, which nobody else does. And they have a plan for the future of racing in Illinois that I think is just remarkable,” Campbell said during the ITHA's annual general membership meeting, held virtually on Saturday. “We think it's nice now. Just wait. If we can get Churchill Downs to say yes, you will have a world-class venue for horse racing like no other.”

Read more at the Chicago Daily-Herald.

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