Richer purses for 21-day fall meet

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – A 21-day fall meet highlighted by the first Breeders’ Cup at Churchill Downs in seven years will get under way Sunday with a Stars of Tomorrow card of all 2-yearold races reflecting a sizable increase in everyday purses at this historic track.

Not counting the 35th Breeders’ Cup, which will be run here Friday and Saturday, Nov. 2-3, purses are projected to increase nearly 30 percent over corresponding 2017 dates, with a per-day average of almost $650,000. In all, purses will total more than $41 million, with $28 million of that for the Breeders’ Cup, which was last run here in 2011.

Churchill Downs Inc. officials attribute the latest purse jump to early returns from their new Derby City gaming facility, located just a few miles from the company’s flagship track. Over the last six years, the average purse at the fall meet (non-BC) will have soared from $32,672 to $54,921, an increase of a whopping 68 percent.

Predictably, the caliber of racing is on an upward surge, and one need look no further than the 11-race opener for a fair gauge. Seven maiden special weight races, each with a purse of $76,000 (including bonuses from the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund), surround a pair of stakes, the $300,000 Spendthrift Juvenile Stallion Stakes (race 10) and the $100,000 Rags to Riches (race 8).

As the meet unfolds, horsemen also will be glad to see that purses for allowance races will range from $78,000 to $90,000 and that even a $5,000 claiming race will offer a purse of $20,500. The stable area, of course, is at capacity, with more horses waiting to fill stalls once the Breeders’ Cup leaves town.

Aside from the 14 Breeders’ Cup events, 16 stakes will be run at the meet, which runs through Nov. 25. The traditional fall-meet anchor, the Grade 1 Clark Handicap, is set for Nov. 23 and will be accompanied by five other graded stakes on Thanksgiving week, including a second Stars of Tomorrow card featuring the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club and Grade 2 Golden Rod on Nov. 24.

Corey Lanerie, the perennial leading rider here since 2012, is among a familiar jockey colony, while Steve Asmussen and Brad Cox can be expected to vie for leading trainer.

Racing will be conducted five days a week, with Mondays and Tuesdays dark. Post time daily is 1 p.m. Eastern, with these exceptions: Breeders’ Cup Friday, 12:55 p.m.; Breeders’ Cup Saturday, 10:45 a.m.; and Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 22), 11:30 a.m.