Purses Improve, Handle Down at Churchill Fall

Churchill Downs reported a 1.9% increase in purses paid at the 21-day fall meet that concluded Nov. 27 in Louisville.

Total purses paid during the 21-day session improved nearly 2% to $10,067,188 compared with purses of $9,882,559 offered during the 2015 meet, which consisted of the same number of race days. Average daily purses paid rose to $479,290, up from the $470,598 average from the previous year.

Churchill Downs Inc. does not release handle figures for most of its meets but according to the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, total handle was off 3.7% to $100,750,712 and on-track handle was down 1% to $8,332,498.

Churchill reports the size of the average fall meet race field dipped slightly to 8.9 starters, down 5% from an average of 9.4 in 2015. This year's average field size is higher than the average field sizes of 8.5 in 2014 and 8.8 in 2013. The meet consisted of 222 races comprised of 1,985 starters, a total that reflected a 5.4% decrease from the 2,099 starters in the 2015 fall meet, which featured 223 contests.

Churchill Downs' newest wager—the 20-cent minimum Single 6 Jackpot—continued its popularity with on-track and simulcast racing fans in its second year. There were no single perfect tickets on any of the first 20 days of the meet, which resulted in a total Single 6 wagering pool of more than $800,000 on the meet's final day. There were no individual perfect tickets in the closing day Single 6 wagering, so the pool was divided among six winning bettors who correctly selected all six winners and collected payouts of $117,758. 

Jockey Corey Lanerie pulled away in the final two days of the fall meet to finish as leading rider with 31 wins. The title was Lanerie's 12th Churchill Downs riding crown. The 42-year-old native of Lafayette, La. is now tied with Hall of Fame jockey Don Brumfield for the second-most local riding championships behind 34-time local riding leader Pat Day.  

Runners-up Brian Hernandez Jr. and Julien Leparoux each had 24 victories, with Robby Albarado in fourth with 17 wins.  

Hernandez enjoyed his finest Churchill meet as his victory total included five stakes wins and four that occurred over three days of the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Along with victories by McCraken in the Kentucky Jockey Club (gr. II) and Street Sense, Hernandez won the $200,000 Mrs. Revere (gr. IIT) aboard Whitham Thoroughbreds' Linda, the $100,000 River City Handicap (gr. IIIT) with Randy Bloch, Phil Milner, John Seiler, and Amtietam's Thatcher Street and the $80,000 Dream Supreme Stakes on Carl R. Moore Management LLC's 3-year-old filly Finley'sluckycharm. Hernandez led all jockeys with earnings of $1,232,608 during the meet.

Mike Maker earned his fourth fall meet leading trainer title as he saddled 16 winners. The fall meet crown lifted Maker's overall total for Churchill training titles to six. Brad Cox and Ian Wilkes tied for second with 10 winners each, and were followed by Eddie Kenneally's eight wins and Rusty Arnold and Chris Richard, each of whom saddled seven winners. Wilkes, who won four stakes at the meet, led all trainers with in earnings at $701,873.

Ken and Sarah Ramsey, the all-time leaders in victories by an owner at Churchill Downs, earned their record 28th leading owner crown to complete a sweep of those titles in Churchill's three 2016 meets. Horses owned by the Ramseys won six races during the meet. The Nicholasville, Ky. couple has won an unprecedented 460 career races beneath the Twin Spires, a total that is more than double the 206 wins tallied by Overbrook Farm, their nearest competitor.

Maggi Moss finished second in the leading owner rankings as horses carrying her colors won four races, one more that the victory totals for seven owners that tied for third.