Tag: Kentucky Downs

Kentucky Downs offers $150,000 maiden races, the largest purses in the world. The boutique meet expanded to seven days with a record $17.95 million in purses. (Image: Grace Clark/Kentucky Downs)

Kentucky Downs Announces Record Purses, Added Races

- 2 min read

Kentucky Downs officials announced the boutique meet’s 2022 schedule, which features record purses, expanded stakes, and the richest maiden races in the world. The seven-day meet, which runs Sept. 1, 3, 4, 8, 10, 11, and 14 over the all-turf, kidney-shaped track, offers 17 stakes worth a record $10.7 million. […]

Gear Jockey and Jose Lezcano needed a scratch for this Turf Sprint berth at Kentucky Downs. They parlayed that into a win and a spot in Saturday's Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint at Del Mar. (Image: Coady Photography)

Gear Jockey Shifts Into Sprint Mode Just In Time for Breeders’ Cup

- 3 min read

When you watch Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint and hear the name Gear Jockey, you need to understand the grinding wheels of opportunity-meets-preparation that it took to bring him to the Del Mar starting gate. Gear Jockey needed a scratch to get him into the Turf Sprint at Kentucky Downs. […]

Imperador and jockey Joe Talamo hold off a surging Arklow to win Kentucky Downs' flagship race: the $1 million Calumet Turf Cup. That Saturday race headlined a record handle day and meet for Kentucky Downs. (Image: Coady Photography)

Kentucky Downs Wrap: Bettors, Rosario Make it a Record-Setting Meet

- 3 min read

Whether it was riding or betting, records fell in bunches during Kentucky Downs’ recently completed six-day meet. The boutique, all-turf track located on the Kentucky-Tennessee border destroyed its previous handle record, both for a single day and for the overall meet. Kentucky Downs came in with a six-day, all-sources handle […]

Mike Maker made himself quite a career just off the Calumet Turf Cup. Standouts like the just-retired Zulu Alpha helped Maker earn more than $2.2 million in just this event. (Image: Joe DiOrio)

Maker’s Mark Predictably Potent in the $1 Million Calumet Turf Cup

- 3 min read

To illustrate how seriously trainer Mike Maker takes the $1 million Grade 3 Calumet Turf Cup and how deep his barn goes at Kentucky Downs, Maker had owner Michael Hui retire Grade 1 winner Zulu Alpha Friday. And even with Zulu Alpha’s retirement, Maker still sends four horses into Kentucky […]

Joel Rosario and Pixelate won Monday's Mint Million at Kentucky Downs. That was one of 13 victories for Rosario this week, breaking the previous meet record of 12. (Image: Coady Photography)

Rosario Makes 13 a Lucky Number, Sets Kentucky Downs Riding Record

- 2 min read

Joel Rosario broke the Kentucky Downs meet victory record on Thursday, piloting two winners on the day’s card for his 12th and 13th victories of the meet. The 13 wins eclipsed the previous record of 12, set by Rafael Bejarano in 2004. Florent Geroux tied that mark in 2015 and […]

New York bettors now have access to Kentucky Downs' six-day meet. The entity signed an 11th-hour agreement with the New York Racing Association opening up wagering to New York bettors. (Image: Coady Photography)

Kentucky Downs, NYRA Reach Agreement, New York Wagering Welcome

- 2 min read

One day before Kentucky Downs begins its six-day meet, the track reached an agreement with the New York Racing Association that opens up wagering to NYRA’s markets and platforms. The late agreement means NYRA, its racetracks and its NYRA Bets advance deposit wagering (ADW) platform can access the track’s races. […]

Expect Somelikeithotbrown to factor into Monday's Grade 3 Mint Million at Kentucky Downs. His trainer, Mike Maker, is the track's all-time leader in three categories: wins, starters and earnings. (Image: Bill Denver/Maryland Jockey Club)

Stakes Winners Somelikeithotbrown, Du Jour Find Path to Kentucky Downs

- 2 min read

Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott brings Du Jour and Mike Maker brings Somelikeithotbrown from New York to Kentucky Downs for two of the track’s biggest opening weekend races. Mott, Kentucky Downs’ leading trainer in 2005 and the No. 3 all-time trainer with 27 victories, sends Du Jour into Sunday’s […]

Due to a contract impasse, horseplayers at the three NYRA tracks, including Saratoga, won't be able to bet on Kentucky Downs races during the all-turf track's six-day meet. (Image: Kentucky Downs)

Kentucky Downs Shuts Out NYRA Bettors

- 2 min read

Due to a contract impasse, bettors at New York Racing Association tracks and NYRA Bets account holders won’t be able to wager on the upcoming Kentucky Downs meet. That shuts out the country’s fourth-largest advance deposit wagering (ADW) platform from access to the six-day, all-turf boutique meet. Kentucky Downs opens […]

The unique-to-America Kentucky Downs turf course offers the biggest pari-mutuel payouts of any US track. It begins its short, six-day season Sunday. (Image: Coady Photography)

Kentucky Downs: Short Meet, Small Track, Big Pari-Mutuel Payouts

- 3 min read

Kentucky Downs, one of the biggest sleeper tracks in the country from a betting standpoint begins, its season on Sunday. With a six-day card, sleeping on the sleeper track means you’ll likely miss something from a wagering standpoint. Kentucky Downs offers the best pari-mutuel payouts of any track in the […]

The novel, non-oval Kentucky Downs course offers racing only six days a year. When the meet opens Sept. 5, it will go by the new name "FanDuel Meet at Kentucky Downs." (Image: Kentucky Downs)

FanDuel to Become Title Sponsor of Kentucky Downs Meet

- 2 min read

Kentucky Downs and FanDuel announced a three-year partnership this week that will put the betting platform’s name on the track’s boutique late-summer meet. The six-day meet, which runs Sept. 5-6, 8-9, and 11-12, now goes by the name FanDuel Meet at Kentucky Downs. FanDuel is the parent company of the […]