Rich Dirt Racing on Deck at Churchill in September

Turf racing may be absent the rest of the year at Churchill Downs as the track installs a new grass course for use in the spring of 2022, but there will be an abundance of lucrative dirt races contested during the September meet that begins Sept. 16 and continues through Oct. 3.

Thursday’s eight-race, twilight-racing opener drew 82 entries, including a field of eight fillies and mares for the featured seventh race, a $134,000 second-level allowance optional claimer at 1 1/8 miles. The program also has a $127,000 first-level allowance for 3-year-olds and up at 6 1/2 furlongs (Race 6) and a $120,000 maiden special weight for 2-year-olds at six furlongs (Race 5). Those purses include incentives for Kentucky-breds via the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund.

The lowest purse of the day is $30,000 for maiden $10,000 claimers in the day's first race.

Churchill's lofty purses—totaling $12.3 million over 12 days—are bolstered by slot-like historical horse racing at Derby City Gaming, owned by Churchill Downs Inc. Eleven stakes will be contested, worth $3.26 million.

Five stakes races, including two important fixtures for juveniles that could produce starters in this year’s Breeders’ Cup and next spring’s Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) and the Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1), will be showcased in primetime under the lights Sept. 18 as part of Downs After Dark presented by Budweiser. 

The $300,000 Iroquois Stakes (G3) kicks off the Road to the Kentucky Derby series (Top 4 Points: 10-4-2-1), while the $300,000 Pocahontas Stakes (G3) starts the Road to the Kentucky Oaks (Top 4 Points: 10-4-2-1). Additionally, both 1 1/16-mile races are Breeders’ Cup Challenge events, granting the winners automatic, expense-paid berths in the starting gate for their respective Breeders’ Cup races at Del Mar. 

Two Saratoga Race Course maiden winners are under consideration for the Iroquois: WinStar Farm and Siena Farm's Major General , trained by Todd Pletcher, and L and N Racing and Winchell Thoroughbreds' Stellar Tap , who gave Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen his North American record-breaking 9,446th career win. 

Meanwhile, Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1) and Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (G1) prospects may surface in a pair of Saturday stakes for fillies and mares, the $400,000 Locust Grove Stakes (G3) over 1 1/16 miles, and the $300,000 Open Mind at six furlongs. Last year’s Kentucky Oaks winner, Shedaresthedevil , who took this year’s La Troienne Stakes Presented by Twinspires.com (G1) and Clement L. Hirsch Stakes (G1) for Flurry Racing Stables, Qatar Racing, and Big Aut Farms, is the probable Locust Grove favorite.

The inaugural $275,000 Louisville Thoroughbred Society, an open sprint for 3-year-olds and up at six furlongs, wraps the stakes-laden Saturday program. Entries will be taken Sept. 15.

Thoroughbred Racing will meet Louisville Cardinals Basketball when Louisville Live, the University of Louisville’s annual preseason basketball event, comes to Churchill Downs for Downs After Dark. To celebrate the theme of “Horses & Hoops,” fans are encouraged to wear Cardinals gear that will bring together two Louisville sports legacies under the famed Twin Spires. Gates will open at 5 p.m. ET with the first race at 6 p.m. 

Closing weekend is anchored by the $400,000 Lukas Classic (G3) for 3-year-olds and up at 1 1/8 miles, a race likely to draw Knicks Go  in his final start before the $6 million Longines Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) Nov. 6.

Beyond good dirt racing, on-track attendees will see plenty of construction. More than 41,000 tons of grass and dirt has been removed from the turf course, irrigation and drainage systems installed, and the subsurface was redesigned to utilize the full width and banking in the turns to widen the course to 85 feet which will allow four racing lanes that range from zero to 36 feet out and as many as 14 participants per race. 

Currently, a large mound of root zone mix, a blend of soil and horticulture sand located in the infield on the far turn, continues to shrink daily as it’s being laid as a base for the new sod. Tahoma 31 Bermudagrass overseeded with ryegrass will be planted Oct. 4 immediately after the conclusion of the September Meet.

Construction also continues on the new Homestretch Club, which will renovate and update the grandstand area in the former sections 120-123 and 220-223. The capital project will deliver 30 Trackside Lounges, 66 Terraced Dining Tables, 2,610 Stadium Club seats, five private VIP Hospitality Lounges, and 18,600 square feet of new interior premium hospitality space with air conditioning, a 100-foot bar, and a grand staircase. The project will provide 3,250 all-inclusive seats for the 2022 Kentucky Derby.

Additionally, some demolition work was completed for the new Turn 1 Experience, which will bring 5,100 all-inclusive permanent stadium seats and a climate-controlled hospitality venue for an additional 2,000 fans. That project will be complete for the 2023 Kentucky Derby.