KY Downs Increases Stakes Purses and Adds New Stakes Race

Kentucky Downs will offer a record $10 million in purses and Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund supplements at its five-date meet Sept. 1-13, with all 13 existing stakes getting increases, as well as, the creation of the $500,000 Kentucky Downs Juvenile Turf Sprint.
The Juvenile Turf Sprint, to be held Sept. 8, is designed as a prep for the new $1 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint to be held Nov. 2 at Churchill Downs. The new KYD race, with $250,000 of its $500,000 purse available to Kentucky-bred and -sired horses through the KTDF, will be run at 6 1/2 furlongs.
The Kentucky Downs Juvenile and the Exacta Systems Juvenile Fillies were stretched in distance from seven furlongs to a mile. Those races are Sept. 1 and go from $350,000 to $400,000, including KTDF money.
“We have witnessed the rise in the importance of turf racing in America, as evidenced by the Breeders' Cup adding the Juvenile Turf Sprint, so we want to mirror that trend,” said Ted Nicholson, Kentucky Downs' senior vice president and general manager. “We believe the Juvenile Turf Sprint will be a home run for the Breeders' Cup in its first year, and it made sense for us to provide a logical pathway to that race.
“One of our goals is to be complementary to the great turf stakes at Keeneland and the Breeders' Cup races at Churchill Downs. We see it as a terrific opportunity for horses to run at Kentucky Downs, Keeneland and Churchill Downs, never having to leave the Commonwealth as the international spotlight shines on our racetracks.”
The GIII Calumet Farm Kentucky Turf Cup Sept. 8 was bumped from $600,000 to $750,000 and the Sept. 1 Tourist Mile's purse was increased from $400,000 to $750,000. Both races offer $400,000 in base purses plus an additional $350,000 in KTDF money. The GIII Kentucky Downs Turf Sprint and GIII Kentucky Downs Ladies Turf were raised to $500,000, from $400,000 and $350,000, respectively. The GIII Kentucky Downs Ladies Sprint, which is being run as a graded event for the first time this year is now $450,000 as opposed to $350,000 last term.
The track is also offering four $100,000 races held under starter-allowance conditions Sept. 9 to serve as preps for the Claiming Crown late in the year at Gulfstream Park. The races (two apiece for males and for females at 6 1/2 furlongs and a mile and 70 yards) are for horses who have started for a claiming price of $25,000 or less since Jan. 1, 2017. The winners receive an automatic spot in the associated Claiming Crown event and up to $1,000 for shipping to Florida.
The enhancements are made possible by the success of Kentucky Downs' historical horse-racing operation. In addition, Kentucky Downs is transferring $2.4 million in purses and KTDF money to Ellis Park in an arrangement approved by the Kentucky Horsemen's Benevolent & Protective Association. The deal includes creating four $100,000 turf stakes Aug. 5 for a Kentucky Downs Preview Day positioned as launching pads to their corresponding Kentucky Downs race.