Horsemen Relieved That Churchill is Opening Stable Area

A day following the April 29 announcement from Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear that cleared the way for stabling to take place beginning May 11 at Churchill Downs, horsemen expressed relief that the action could soon lead to a resumption of racing in the state.

Live racing has been suspended in Kentucky since March 25, when the Churchill Downs Inc.-owned Turfway Park ended its meet three days early after Beshear urged all nonessential businesses to close because of COVID-19. Keeneland also canceled its spring meet, which was scheduled to run in April.

Other states took similar action, leaving some Kentucky horsemen in a holding pattern after taking their horses during the winter months to southern locations such as Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots in Louisiana. Still others extended their stays in states racing without spectators, like Florida, where Gulfstream Park and Tampa Bay Downs are underway, and Arkansas, where Oaklawn Park will end its meet May 2.

"I'm happy to get back and have life as semi-normal," said trainer Mike Maker, a Louisville resident.

Although Churchill Downs issued a detailed statement after the governor's announcement Wednesday night, describing its ship-in procedures and safety protocols, left unanswered was the meet's start date. In a news release, the track said the start date, originally scheduled for April 25, will be announced "after track officials evaluate its incoming horse population and load-in procedures."

Speaking April 30 during a conference call to announce Churchill Downs Inc.'s first-quarter financials, CDI CEO Bill Carstanjen provided more clarification, saying, "We are excited for Churchill Downs racetrack to open sometime in May."

Whether the company will maintain its previous purse structure is to be seen. When racing resumes, it will be without spectators, making Churchill, like all other tracks in operation, reliant on advance deposit wagering until tracks and simulcast centers return to having paid attendance. Additionally, the slot-like historical horse racing terminals that subsidize purses in the state have not been in operation at racetracks for more than a month, and gaming facilities that house those will remain closed for the time being.

Ben Huffman, the racing secretary at Churchill Downs and Keeneland, did not return a phone call seeking updates on stabling and racing plans for the upcoming spring meet at Churchill.

Maggi Moss, a six-time leading owner at Churchill Downs who has 25 horses in training, is eager for racing at Churchill and, eventually, at Indiana Grand, where she often runs some of her low- to mid-level runners. She estimates that each horse she has in training has approximately $3,000 a month in expenses and notes higher-than-expected shipping costs for horses needing to travel in the midst of the pandemic.

After initially sending four or five horses to layup facilities after Fair Grounds ended its meet early March 21, that number has now grown to nine.

"If you have the luxury of a recreational sport and money is not an object, it probably doesn't faze you much," she said. "When you keep a large stable, and you also want to take care of your horses, it becomes a financial loss, faced with when do we start racing? And (speculation) that purse money will be a lot lower. So how do you weather that? You weather that by saying you are going to stay in for the long haul or having a Plan B. And right now, I don't have a Plan B."

She has been able to run some horses at Oaklawn Park this month, including victorious No Parole, a 3-year-old sprinter she owns with Greg Tramontin. Still, she had a reduction in racing for her stable, and when she did race, winning often proved elusive against deep fields partially created by the suspension of racing elsewhere.

A condition book and stakes schedule are expected to be provided by Churchill Downs, which intends to race behind closed doors at least four days a week, customary for the track on a Thursday-through-Sunday schedule. 

Stable space figures to be in demand at Churchill, which only released its stall allocations this week, according to trainers. The track will phase in shippers to its backstretch, beginning with horses from Fair Grounds May 11-13, followed by those from Florida May 14-16 and those from Oaklawn from May 17-19. Horses from other locales will be permitted May 20.

Racing at Churchill has become increasingly popular, and some horsemen who might otherwise stable or split their stable with Keeneland do not yet have full access to the Lexington track. Keeneland placed restrictions on shipping in mid-March as a COVID-19 security measure, allowing those with stables located at the Rice Road area to ship in and also granting access for those trainers who had already begun moving horses into its main stabling facility. Those without existing horses on the primary grounds have not been allowed to move their string into Keeneland, according to the track.

Among those trainers without horses at Keeneland is Maker, who intends to bring 40 horses there to complement another 40 headed to Trackside, Churchill Downs' off-site training center, in a couple of weeks. 

The Wednesday announcement from Beshear was greeted enthusiastically by Keeneland, though as of midday Thursday, the track had not eased its stabling restrictions.

"It's a little bit like the dog that caught the car—now what do we do, right? That's where we are," said Bob Elliston, the vice president of racing and sales at Keeneland.

The track has 500-600 horses on the grounds when it might otherwise have 900 during this period, according to Elliston.

"We have multiple meetings today and in the next coming days to try to figure out how to go about" implementing the governor's authorization of stabling under strict safety rules, he said.

As Keeneland officials stated this month, the track remains interested in conducting a meet this summer, when it would not normally operate, after having to scrap its spring meet.

"We've been in conversations with tracks in Kentucky to be accommodating to the circuit and the race dates that are already allocated. We understand that," Elliston said. "We don't want to do something that is in conflict or injurious to another track. Those are ongoing discussions, and they've been very positive discussions. 

"I think somewhere there will be a window for us to some summer days. I don't know how many, the purse structure of that, the timing of that. What I do know is we want to do it. It's exciting there may be a pathway to do that now with the protocols that have been developed and the confidence the governor is gaining with the steps the racing circuit is going to implement."

Churchill Downs, working with Ellis Park and Kentucky Downs, was able to secure unique race dates from Sept. 1-5 to stage a week of racing leading up to a postponed Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1).

Skip Sayre, the chief of sales and marketing for Ellis Entertainment, the parent company of Ellis Park, said the track would be "made whole" by Churchill Downs in terms of the financial impact of shortening its meet to clear the way for Churchill Downs to run in September. Ellis runs during the summer months in Kentucky, and Keeneland would likely need its approval to stage a meet during its customary race dates in July or August.

Trainer Ian Wilkes, who feels fortunate to have been able to race through COVID-19 at Gulfstream Park and Tampa Bay Downs while shutdowns affected other tracks, is excited to return to the Bluegrass after wintering his stable as usual in Florida.

"It's great because Keeneland, Churchill, Kentucky, that's home for us, me, my help," he said. "Probably the most relieved people are my help. They're wanting to get home."