Turfway Park Opens Under Churchill Downs Inc. Ownership

Loaned millions in purse money from its new owner Churchill Downs Inc.—created by handle from historical horse racing machines at CDI's Derby City Gaming in Louisville—Turfway Park in Northern Kentucky opens for its winter meet Dec. 4 with increased purses and optimism.

Entries for the track's first two days are off to a fast start. Seven of the track's eight races Wednesday evening offer capacity fields of 12, plus also-eligibles, and the Dec. 5 card is also deep with six of the eight races having overflow lineups.

Those horses are following the added money. Pots are flush in Turfway races that offer incentives for Kentucky-bred horses through the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund. Maiden races carry a purse of $46,000 and allowance races can exceed $50,000.

Altogether purses are projected to average more than $200,000 a day for its 16-day holiday meet which runs to the end of the year and will be immediately followed by its winter/spring season. Purses are more than double the average from last year.

"You can't have truly a great circuit with that big hole of declining winter-time racing," said Bill Carstanjen, CEO of CDI.

Beyond the change in the purse structure, the Turfway of old is largely the one of today for the next four months. Following the end of the track's winter/spring meet March 28, the grandstand, built in 1959, will be demolished, paving the way for a new facility that will eventually incorporate 1,500 HHR terminals. $100 million in investment is pledged by CDI on top of its $46 million acquisition of the track.

Churchill's capital investments, set for completion in the summer of 2021, are sparked by the profitability of HHR devices, which have become appealing to bettors with technological advances that have allowed them to play more like slot machines. Their payouts are determined by previously run horse races.

The four currently operating HHR venues in the state, allowed only at facilities with pari-mutuel wagering licenses, combined for handle of $2.03 billion for the fiscal year that ended June 30—85% higher than the previous fiscal year's $1.09 billion. Another $908 million was wagered from July-October, a 93% increase from last year's total over those four months.

Leading the way during October was Derby City Gaming, located on the grounds of CDI's Trackside training center, with handle of more than $96 million, doing so in a Louisville market that faces competition from full casinos and sports gambling in Indiana.

Turfway Park is also closely surrounded by full-scale gambling in Indiana and Ohio.

According to horsemen, CDI has begun addressing needed repairs to the backstretch that were neglected by Turfway's prior owners, Jack Entertainment and later Hard Rock International, companies that never installed HHR devices at the track while holding a casino interest in nearby Cincinnati.

CDI similarly came under criticism by horsemen and some members of the Illinois Racing Board this fall when the company did not pursue a casino license at Arlington International Racecourse in Illinois that could have generated purse supplements, saying the tax rate on gaming expansion was unsatisfactory. CDI also holds a majority stake in Rivers Casino, about 15 miles from Arlington.

"As soon as the ink was dry they started to make the improvements on the backside that we requested," Kentucky Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association executive director Marty Maline said of CDI's ownership of Turfway. "I mean, they have a long way to go, and obviously this year this can't (entirely) happen."

All racing through March will be conducted over Turfway's Poytrack surface, though CDI has proposed adding a dirt track inside its Polytrack oval to supplement its synthetic racing. The Jeff Ruby Steaks (G3), the track's signature race each March that serves as a minor prep for the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) at Churchill Downs, could then potentially be moved to dirt.

Counting both the holiday meet and winter/spring meet, 11 stakes are on deck, now with a minimum purse raised from $50,000 to $75,000, counting KTDF. The schedule begins Dec. 6 with the Holiday Inaugural Stakes.

The jockey colony, currently deeper than in recent years with the additions of Martin Garcia, Albin Jimenez, Alan Garcia, and other riders, is expected to thin somewhat in January as some jockeys, including Martin Garcia, follow prominent barns south for an Oaklawn Park meeting that begins Jan. 24 in Hot Springs, Ark. Turfway also scales back to running three days a week during that time from its usual four-day a week schedule in December.

Turfway regulars Mike Maker and Wesley Ward are among those expected to vie for leading-training honors.

Back with runners at Turfway after being an infrequent participant at the track is Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen, who has one horse entered opening night and two Thursday. He has run just three horses at Turfway this decade and last won a race there in 2008 when Zanjero took the Kentucky Cup Classic Stakes (G2) during the track's defunct September meet.

On the wagering front, Turfway has added a 20-cent Single 6, a jackpot-type Pick 6 that pays out its entire pool only if a single ticket has all six winners. Other exotic wagers include its Pick 4, taxed at a 14% takeout, and the Pick 5, which had its takeout lowered from 22% to 15% this year.

"Ironically, we'll help Turfway but ultimately Turfway will give back and help Keeneland and Churchill when it holds its own as a quality racing signal during the period of time that it runs," Carstanjen said. "We want to see a first-class racing facility. We want to see a Turfway return to national prominence as a great place to race during the winter time and a great handicapping product."