Kentucky Commission Approves Sept. Derby Week Dates

During a March 19 meeting, the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission unanimously approved Churchill Downs' request to race Sept. 1-5 to accommodate its COVID-19-related postponement of the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1).

The five-day period in early September is now expected to replicate the usual May role of "Derby week," in which Churchill Downs stages a series of stakes races and events leading up to the Kentucky Derby. The Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1), the sister race to the Derby, is set for Sept. 4, though other races have not been officially announced.

The approval of commissioners was expected after Ellis Park and Kentucky Downs officials notified the commission of their support of the date shift. Those two tracks had been assigned race days during that period.

In an interview with BloodHorse earlier this week, Skip Sayre, chief of sales and marketing for Ellis Entertainment, the parent company of Ellis Park, said Ellis would be "made whole" by Churchill Downs in terms of the financial impact of shortening its meet, though he declined to disclose financial arrangements. The Henderson, Ky., track will now end their season Aug. 30.

During the Thursday meeting, commissioner Frank Jones Jr. asked Ellis Park to consider adding a couple of race dates during their summer meet to offset the loss to its horsemen in September race dates there, to which Ken Mimmack, project manager for Ellis Entertainment, replied the track would consider.

Kentucky Downs in Franklin, Ky., will now race Sept. 7, 9-10, 12-13, 16, according to a tweet from the track. It had been scheduled to run Sept. 2 and end Sept. 13 before the change in race dates between Kentucky tracks.

Churchill Downs has a regularly scheduled fall meet in the second half of September.

"We're happy to help Churchill Downs get through this crazy, crazy time that we're all going through," Ted Nicholson, senior vice president and general manager of Kentucky Downs, told commissioners.

Also Thursday, the commission approved the delegation of KHRC executive director Marc Guilfoil to address Churchill Downs Inc.'s plans to develop a historical horse racing/simulcast facility in Newport, Ky., to be in operation while Turfway Park is being rebuilt and the replacement of its synthetic surface takes place.

CDI, which bought Turfway last year, plans to demolish Turfway's old grandstand after racing concludes this month, and build a a new $100 million facility that will eventually incorporate the slot-like 1,500 HHR terminals.

The proposed Newport facility, located close to downtown Cincinnati, Ohio, would offer 500 HHR machines, devices that have become  popular and have fueled the growth of race purses in the state. HHR facilities in the state are currently closed due to COVID-19.