Tractor Hits Ellis Park Rail; Dirt Races Moved to Turf

A tractor driver had a medical emergency during track maintenance prior to the fifth race at Ellis Park July 23 that resulted in the tractor hitting the inner rail of the dirt track. 

The rail was damaged about the sixteenth pole and was unable to be immediately repaired, forcing the fifth and seventh races to be moved from the main track to the turf. General manager Jeff Inman said that the rail would be repaired overnight and in the morning and that racing would resume as scheduled at 12:50 p.m. CT July 24.

Training has been canceled for Saturday morning to accommodate the repair.

Remaining card @EllisParkRacing will be run on turf. pic.twitter.com/v5YIc23OE8

— Cady (@cadycoulardot) July 23, 2021

The driver was taken to the hospital via ambulance. Ellis Park did not identify the employee, citing health privacy laws. 

The surface change necessitated adjustments to the payoffs for a trio of multi-race wagers. The Pick 3 beginning with race 3 paid out on 5-6-all. The Pick 3 starting with race 4 paid off on 6-all-3. The Pick 5 starting with the fourth race paid off on 6-all-3-all-3.

While taking races off the turf and putting them on the main track is a frequent occurrence when the grass becomes too saturated with rain, the reverse is highly unusual. However, there were no defections from the two races moved to the turf.