As leaves fall, purses on rise

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Not too long ago, a trainer would run horses as often as he or she could at Keeneland prior to the subsequent meet at Churchill Downs, mostly because the Keeneland purses were bigger.

Today, however, the horseshoe might be on the other hoof. The influx of historical horse racing revenues at its nearby Derby City Gaming facility has allowed Churchill to surge past Keeneland in purse offerings, and the result is a never-better daily product at the home of the Kentucky Derby.

“I don’t know that anybody is actually skipping Keeneland in favor of Churchill,” said trainer Bret Calhoun, who had just five starters this fall at Keeneland. “But what everybody does seem to be talking about is the purse cut we’ll all be taking when we ship south for the winter, to New Orleans or Florida. The purses on the Kentucky circuit have become second to none.”

Indeed, maiden-specials worth $95,000 and allowances that start at $97,000 have helped lift the Churchill racing program to new heights. Including bonuses from the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund, total purse payouts for the 26-day fall meet at Churchill, which starts Sunday, are projected to surpass $20 million.

An 11-race all-2-year-old card, an opening-day tradition since 2005, gets things started Sunday. The card consists of the $120,000 Rags to Riches (race 9) for fillies and the $120,000 Street Sense (race 10) as co-features, along with two allowances and seven maidenspecials. A second all-juvenile card is set for Nov. 30, anchored by a pair of qualifying-points races toward the Kentucky Derby and Oaks, the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club and Grade 2 Golden Rod.

The meet runs through Dec. 1, marking the first time that Churchill will conduct racing beyond November since a seven-day meet was run Nov. 24-Dec. 1 in 1928.

The fall stakes schedule includes nine graded races and will be highlighted by the Grade 1, $600,000 Clark on Nov. 29. With Churchill having done away with assigning handicap weights for stakes, the Clark will be run for the first time in its history under allowance conditions. Other major events include the Grade 2 Falls City on Nov. 28 and the Grade 2 Mrs. Revere on the Clark undercard.

The five-day racing schedule runs Wednesdays through Sundays. First post daily is 1 p.m. Eastern, with these exceptions: Breeders’ Cup Friday (2 p.m.) and Saturday (2:15 p.m.), and Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 28 (11:30 a.m.).

There are no night cards at this meet, but there will be plenty of racing under the lights, given the early sunset at this time of year. In fact, both opening-day co-features probably will be run with the lights on.

Following heavy rain Saturday in this region, mostly sunny skies and a high of 65 are in the Sunday forecast.