FanDuel Meet at Kentucky Downs in Franklin, Ky., ended September 14 with record bets of up to $80 million for seven days of running. The wallet has once again set a record, reaching nearly $18 million paid to horse owners.
With $12,896,355 in bets on Wednesday’s end card, the total bet for the meet came in at $80,175,928, beating the Kentucky Downs’ previous record of $74,088,532 over six days on last year, up 8%. A record $21,065,982 was wagered on Saturday, September 10. The average field size was 10.61 horses, the highest since 2019.
The impact of the Kentucky Downs since the introduction of pari-mutuel bets on the historic Horse Racing Championship in 2011 can be measured through wallets. The total has increased from $769,810 for 30 races 11 years ago to $17,863,177 for 73 races this year, including a wallet supplement for registered Kentucky crossbreeds from the Pure Development Fund. Kentucky strain. The Kentucky Downs did not have any KTDF funds in 2011. This year, more than $6.7 million was paid out from the fund in seven days.
“It started as if you didn’t know what was going to happen here, and now people just can’t get here fast enough to run,” said Woodford County coach Robert Medina, who took his first win. at the track belongs to Bill Parcells- owner of Kentucky-hybrid Play Action Pass during the opening ceremony of the $400,000 Pepsi Gun Runner Stakes on Wednesday. “It’s an amazing thing they’ve done. I know it’s monetarily motivated, but it’s fun. It’s comforting and you have a great time. We need it. more of that than in horse racing.”
Record betting goes on despite adverse weather on both weekends in the meeting starting on Thursday, September 1. The last four races on Saturday, September 3 have been rescheduled. . Both Sundays were significantly impacted, with all September 4 passes moved to Monday, September 5 and nine of the last 11 races with cards for September 11 moved to Tuesdays , September 13.
“It was a great encounter, with world-class racing despite the challenges,” said Ted Nicholson, vice president of racing for the Kentucky Downs. “Every weekend we run, we are meteorologists. Losing all Sunday and having to transfer a card to Tuesday is not ideal. It was a testament to how well director Butch Lehr and the course tracking team held together. For us, along with our horsemen and riders, to persevere and reach $80 million is huge. “
“There’s definitely a sense of what could happen if we get anything close to the perfect weather we have for the card,” said Ron Winchell, co-manager of Marc Falcone in the Kentucky Downs. our weekdays and our dark days. Mint Gaming Hall properties. “Just a few years ago, we crossed the moon with these numbers. We still are. But we’re constantly setting the bar higher. And through it all, we still have a lot of talking areas. general and witnessed the spectacular race.”
Equestrian enthusiasts, sports enthusiasts and those looking for just a slice of Americana turned out to watch the race on the undulating, kidney-shaped 1.5/16-mile turf.
“We look forward to this every year,” said Jim Robbins, who was at the Closing Pavilion on closing day with a group of friends from New Albany, Ind. “You’ve never had so many 12-horse yards — anywhere else. We come down here and we shoot at them. Great. We go down to the lawn. We take selfies with the jockeys. The coaches were very nice to us. It was just a casual, fun atmosphere. “
Coach Mike Maker, already an all-time winning lead and race track earner, won a record 12 races and $2,341,636 in the wallet. That is highlighted by his winning bets with the New York hybrid Somelikeithotbrown in WinStar Mint Million Stakes (G3T) and Red Knight at the Kentucky Turf Cup (G2T).
“We love this place,” said owner Harvey Diamond, who is co-owner of Skychai Racing Somelikeithotbrown. “We run well here. Our coach runs well here. We’ll be back.”
The Red Knight and the French Half-Blood Bran Paid trips earned to respective Breeders’ Cup events on 5 November at Keeneland thanks to winning the $1 million Kentucky Turf Cup and $1 million FanDuel Turf Sprint Stakes (G2T).
Jeremiah Englehart Wins With His First Kentucky Downs Starter, A Kentucky Half-Blood Freedom to speak in Nelson’s $500,000 Green Brier Tennessee Whiskey Music City Stakes.
“Look what they did down there,” New York-based Englehart said of the wallets. “It just keeps getting better. It’s like winning a race in Saratoga.”
Thrilling endings proved the norm. Of the finishing touches: 8-year-old Red Knight in the 1/2 mile Kentucky Grass Cup, Campanelle —A star in both the US and Europe — in the $1 million Mint Ladies Sprint Stakes (G3T), Danse Macabre in $500,000 Ainsworth Unacceptable Shares, and Charity in Pepsi One Dreamer Stakes worth $400,000.
At 55, jockey ET Baird — who since the closure of Arlington Park in suburban Chicago has been a man without a track at home — won his first race at the Kentucky Downs as a half-Kentucky A timer take $600,000 Franklin-Simpson Stakes (G2T).
Chris Emigh, 51 and third all-time winning jockey at Arlington, also won his first Kentucky Downs race as Bad Beat Brian won over his wife, coach Brittany Vanden Berg, in a $180,000 allowance race with an option ask price of $80,000.
“I can pay my gas bill this winter,” joked Emigh, and more seriously, “I can’t be bothered about how big the wallets are. I mean, we used to run with $50,000. dollars, maybe $100,000 in races.”
Massive Participation: Even 100 trainers have run at least one horse, with Maker leading with 66 starts — more than double Steve Asmussen’s No. 2 32. Ninety-eight owners or sole ownership group joined, marked ’21 starters’ by Three Diamonds Farms. Sixty-two racehorses have ridden at least one race, led by encounter frontman Tyler Gaffalione (nine wins) riding 66 of 73 races.
The King of the Turf Handicapping Challenge continues to make its mark as one of the most popular disability competitions in the country. In its third year, the event had a total of 640 entries, of which 126 entered all three independent live monetization contests. Tom Rapps of suburban Cleveland prevailed with a cumulative $5,760.30 to claim the coveted National Lawn Player of the Year titles and the Lawn King’s Global Lawn Championship Titles. .
“For the third year, the King of the Turf Handicapping Challenge proved to be the most popular,” said tournament director Brian Skirka. “The prize structure of our three competitions matches the high quality of racing offered by the Kentucky Downs. Congratulations to Tom Rapps, a well-deserved King of the Court. Thank you to all the players for their support. It’s been a record-breaking year for these competitions and I’m looking forward to setting some new records in 2023.”
This press release has been edited for content and style by the BloodHorse Staff.
