Churchill Downs notified horsemen on Saturday that all races scheduled for the grass course at the Louisville, Ky., racetrack will be transferred to the dirt surface through Nov. 22.
Races scheduled on the turf course on Friday and Saturday were moved to the main track, including Saturday's Mrs. Revere Stakes, designated Grade 2 as a turf race but automatically downgraded to Grade 3 and subject to review by the American Graded Stakes Committee.
“Out of an abundance of caution, there will be no turf racing at Churchill Downs through Sunday, Nov. 22, because the course has not satisfactorily responded to this fall's climate,” the statement said. “Our team will continue to evaluate the course daily and grass racing will resume should the conditions become more optimum. As a result there will be no turf entries taken for races scheduled to be run on turf from Nov. 19-22. All scheduled turf races in the condition book during this time period will be transferred to the main track and entries taken for the same conditions will be dirt only.”
The last turf race at Churchill Downs was the ninth race on Thursday, marred by the fatal injury to Grade 1 stakes-placed Winning Impression, who took a bad step at the finish and sustained a catastrophic leg injury as he was being pulled up.
Churchill Downs has two more graded stakes scheduled on turf before the meet ends Nov. 29: the Grade 3 Cardinal on Nov. 26 and G3 River City on Nov. 27.
Keeneland reduced the use of its turf course during the fall race meeting because of weather issues in advance of the Lexington, Ky., track hosting the Nov. 6-7 Breeders' Cup championships.
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