2014 Ky Downs Meet Closes Wednesday

Kentucky Downs closes out its highly successful 2014 live racing season on Wednesday, with a trio stakes races and an autograph session with Hall of Fame jockey Ron Turcotte headlining the day's activities. The first live race is scheduled for 1:35 p.m. (CDT).

The live racing action on Wednesday will be highlighted by three stakes races that each carries a $200,000 purse. The Kentucky Downs Turf Dash is carded at 6 ½ furlongs, while the Kentucky Downs Ladies Marathon (run at a distance of 1 5/16 miles) was so popular with horsemen at the entry box (with a total of 23 entries) that it will be split into two separate divisions. In addition to the purse, each division of the Kentucky Downs Ladies Marathon will award a free breeding to Bullet Train to the winner.

A full field of 12 will start in the Kentucky Downs Turf Dash, headlined by the Wesley Ward-trained Undrafted, a four-year-old gelding owned by NFL star Wes Welker, a wide receiver for the Denver Broncos. R.M. Hernandez will be aboard Undrafted, a son of Purim that has lifetime earnings of over $408,000. A graded stakes winner, Undrafted recently returned from England, where he finished fourth (beaten only 1 ¾ lengths) in the Darley July Cup (GR. I). Other likely contenders in the Kentucky Downs Turf Dash are Dimension (GB) and Something Extra, the third and fourth place finishers respectively in the Grade II Play King Stakes at Woodbine on August 10. 

The first division of the Kentucky Downs Ladies Marathon is slated as the seventh live race on the card, while the second division will run as the day's eighth live race. In the first division, a field of 11 goes postward, including Street of Gold for trainer Eric Reed, a four-year-old mare that most recently was beaten only 3 1/4 lengths in the Grade I Beverly D Stakes at Arlington Park. Hall of Fame jockey Edgar Prado comes in from New York to ride the daughter of Street Sense.

Also in the first division of the Kentucky Downs Ladies Marathon is Cats Claw, a daughter of top turf sire Dynaformer that most recently competed in the Grade III Glen Falls Stakes at Saratoga. Additionally, trainer Tom Proctor ships in Customer Base from the West Coast for the race. The five-year-old mare has lifetime earnings of nearly $350,000 including a victory in the Grade III R.J. Frankel Stakes at Santa Anita.

In the second division of the Kentucky Downs Ladies Marathon, the field of 12 includes a host of graded stakes competitors, including the Todd Pletcher-trained Lady Aspen, a six-year-old mare with over $200,000 in lifetime earnings that is coming off a game effort in the Grade III Violet Stakes at Monmouth Park. Also in the field in the Chris Block-trained I O Ireland, a four-year-old mare that was beaten only a length in the Grade III Modesty Handicap at Arlington two races back. Another strong contender is Always Kitten for the highly-successful connections of owners Ken & Sarah Ramsey, trainer Mike Maker and jockey Rosie Napravnik. 

Speaking of Napravnik, she is tied with Julien Leparoux for the leading rider title at Kentucky Downs this year (with eight wins apiece) heading into Wednesday's final day of live racing at the meet. Leparoux is named on five horses for Wednesday's card, while at the closing of entries; Napravnik was set to ride three. 

The festivities on Wednesday at Kentucky Downs begin at 12:00 noon with an autograph session with Hall of Fame jockey Ron Turcotte, the rider of the legendary 1973 Triple Crown winner Secretariat. Turcotte will be visiting with fans and signing autographs near the finish line from 12:00 noon to 1 p.m., and then continuing in the Clubhouse from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. There is a $10 suggested donation, with proceeds benefiting the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund (PDJF).

A tremendous ambassador for Thoroughbred racing, Turcotte won 3,032 races during his illustrious career. In addition to his accomplishments aboard the legendary Secretariat, Turcotte also won the 1972 Kentucky Derby riding Riva Ridge. Turcotte's career ended in 1978 following a tumble from a horse at the start of a race at Belmont Park that left him a paraplegic. As a well-known survivor of an on-track accident, Turcotte frequently makes appearances at racetracks to raise funds and awareness of the assistance the PDJF provides to fellow injured riders.

Purses for this year's live meet average over $1,000,000 per race day. Kentucky Downs features a one-of-a-kind European-style turf course that offers a fair test to horses at all levels of competition. The Kentucky Downs race course is among the longest courses in North America at 1.3125 (1 5/16) miles in length. With subtle elevation changes throughout the course, a sweeping turn into the stretch run and a quarter-mile run from the end of the final turn to the finish line, racing at Kentucky Downs is unlike any racing seen this side of the Atlantic Ocean.

 

Wednesday, September 24 (Closing Day)

 

Stakes Races:

The Kentucky Downs Ladies Marathon $200,000

The Kentucky Downs Turf Dash $200,000

Autograph session (12 to 2 p.m.) for fans with Hall of Fame jockey Ron Turcotte, the rider of Triple Crown winner Secretariat. ($10 requested donation to benefit the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund).

 

  

Kentucky Downs is located at 5629 Nashville Road in Franklin, Kentucky, approximately 45 minutes northeast of Nashville, Tennessee. For more information, call (270) 586-7778, or visit our website at www.KentuckyDowns.com.