Churchill Downs preview: September meet opens Thursday
Horse racing on the Kentucky circuit shifts to Churchill Downs on Thursday with the first of three Twilight Thursday programs at 5 p.m. EDT as the famed Louisville racetrack opens its 10th annual September meet for a 14-date run through Sunday, Oct. 2.
Thursday’s eight-race opener lured 93 entries (87 in the body plus six also-eligible runners) for an average of 10.9 horses per race. A field of 10 older horses was entered for the featured seventh race, a $141,000 second-level allowance/optional claiming event at seven furlongs. Familiar entries include the regally bred Gun It, the well-backed Hidden Scroll and 2020 Kentucky Derby participant Major Fed.
The opening day program also has a $134,000 second-level allowance/optional claimer for fillies and mares at one mile (race 2); a first-level allowance/optional claimer for 2-year-old fillies at seven furlongs (race 6); and a $120,000 maiden special weight for 2-year-olds at one mile (race 5) headlined by the Todd Pletcher-trained Summonyourcourage, who finished second to impressive maiden winner Echo Again last month at Saratoga.
Each of the September meet’s 135 scheduled races will be contested on the main dirt track to allow the new Bermuda-hybrid turf course to continue to mature to its ultimate potential. Turf racing is projected to return for the fall meet (Oct. 30-Nov. 27).
Horsemen will compete for a record $13.791 million (all purses include prize money from the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund) offered in vice president of racing Ben Huffman’s September Meet condition book, including an 11-race stakes schedule cumulatively worth $3.36 million.
Average daily purses are $985,071. Maiden special weight races have a $120,000 purse, and allowance races range from $127,000 to $141,000.
Both barn areas – Churchill Downs (1,325 stalls) and Trackside Louisville (490 stalls) – are at full capacity, according to Huffman. New additions to the Trackside Louisville barn area include trainers Ricky Courville, Kelsey Danner, Carlos Santamaria and Carlo Vaccarezza.
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 and the Kentucky Oaks, will be showcased Saturday afternoon.
The $300,000 Iroquois (G3) kicks off the Road to the Kentucky Derby series, while the $300,000 Pocahontas (G3) starts the Road to the Kentucky Oaks.
Meanwhile, Breeders' Cup Distaff and Filly & Mare Sprint prospects may surface in a pair of Saturday stakes for fillies and mares, the $400,000 Locust Grove (G3) over 1 1/16 miles and the $300,000 Open Mind (Listed) at six furlongs.
The $275,000 Louisville Thoroughbred Society, an open sprint for 3-year-olds and up at six furlongs, wraps the stakes-laden program.
Entries for Saturday’s 11-race card will be taken Wednesday morning.
Other marque events during the September meet include a stakes quartet in primetime under the light for the final Downs After Dark of the year on Saturday, Sept. 24: the $275,000 Dogwood (G3) for 3-year-old fillies at seven furlongs; $275,000 Bourbon Trail for 3-year-olds at 1 3/16 miles; $275,000 Harrods Creek for 3-year-olds at seven furlongs; and $160,000 Seneca Overnight Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at 1 1/16 miles.
Match-up of Kentucky Derby winners?
Closing weekend is anchored by the $400,000 Lukas Classic (G2) for 3-year-olds and up at 1 1/8 miles on Saturday, Oct. 1, and honors Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas, the iconic four-time winner of the Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks and conditioner of 26 Eclipse Award-winning champions. He has been based at Churchill Downs’ Barn 44 since 1989.
The Lukas Classic, which serves as a prep for the Breeders’ Cup’s $6 million Classic five weeks in advance of the Nov. 5 race at Keeneland, could provide the first meeting of two Kentucky Derby winners in 31 years. This year’s surprise 80-1 Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike, who is perfect in two starts beneath the Twin Spires, could face elders Mandaloun and Hot Rod Charlie, who were promoted to first and second in the 2021 Kentucky Derby.
Winners of the Kentucky Derby have faced each other 43 times but only twice at Churchill Downs: Whiskery (second) vs. Clyde Van Dusen (tenth) in the 1930 Shady Brook Farm Handicap and Unbridled (third) vs. Strike the Gold (fifth) in the Breeders’ Cup Classic on Nov. 2, 1991 – the last time Kentucky Derby winners have been pitted against one another.
Also run on Oct. 1 is the $300,000 Ack Ack (G3) for 3-year-olds and up at one mile – a Breeders’ Cup “win and you’re in” race for the Nov. 5 Dirt Mile at Keeneland.
| Date | Grade | Purse | Race | Conditions | Distance | Surface |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday, Sept. 17 | 3 | $400,000 | Locust Grove | 3&up, f&m | 1 1/16 M | Dirt |
| Saturday, Sept. 17 | 3 | $300,000 | Iroquois | 2yo | 1 1/16 M | Dirt |
| Saturday, Sept. 17 | 3 | $300,000 | Pocahontas | 2yo f | 1 1/16 M | Dirt |
| Saturday, Sept. 17 | Listed | $300,000 | Open Mind | 3&up, f&m | 6 F | Dirt |
| Saturday, Sept. 17 | $275,000 | Louisville Thoroughbred Society | 3&up | 6 F | Dirt | |
| Saturday, Sept. 24 | 3 | $275,000 | Dogwood | 3yo f | 7 F | Dirt |
| Saturday, Sept. 24 | $275,000 | Bourbon Trail | 3yo | 1 3/16 M | Dirt | |
| Saturday, Sept. 24 | $275,000 | Harrods Creek | 3yo | 7 F | Dirt | |
| Saturday, Sept. 24 | $160,000 | Seneca Overnight Stakes | 3yo f | 1 1/16 M | Dirt | |
| Saturday, Oct. 1 | 2 | $500,000 | Lukas Classic | 3&up | 1 1/8 M | Dirt |
| Saturday, Oct. 1 | 3 | $300,000 | Ack Ack | 3&up | 1 M | Dirt |
Five-day racing weeks
Churchill Downs’ 14-day meet will be staged over three weekends through Sunday, Oct. 2 with racing on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Outside of the three Twilight Thursdays (5 p.m.) and the lone Downs After Dark on Sept. 24 (6 p.m.), the first race for all other race days will be 12:45 p.m. (admission gates open at 11:30 a.m.).
Nine races are scheduled on Wednesdays, eight races are scheduled on Thursdays with 10-race programs on Fridays and Sundays. Eleven races will be showcased each Saturday.
Betting menu
The betting menu will be the same as recent meets and includes the 20-cent minimum “Derby City 6” jackpot, which is offered on the last six races each day with a 15 percent takeout. The Derby City 6 jackpot will be paid only if there is a single winning wager with six winners placed at the required minimum bet value. If there are multiple winning wagers with six winners in the six-race sequence, 90 percent of the net money wagering into the pool will be paid, and the remaining 10 percent will carry to the Derby City 6 jackpot. If there are no tickets will all six winners, 100 percent of the pool will carry to the Derby City 6 jackpot. There will be a mandatory payout on closing day.
The daily betting menu also features 50-cent Pick 5s with a 15 percent takeout and 50-cent Pick 4s. Win, place, show, exacta, 50-cent trifecta, 10-cent superfecta, daily double and 50-cent Pick 3 wagers will be offered every race (on all races that qualify under Kentucky statutes for minimum field size) and the $1 Super Hi-5 will be offered in the last race daily.