Churchill Downs concluded its 140th
spring meet on Sunday, with declines in daily racing fields and daily purses.
The average field in the 372 races conducted during the April 26-June 29
racing session
was comprised of 7.29 horses, a decline from an average of 7.78 horses-per-race
during the 2013 spring meet, which also consisted of 38 racing days. The decline
in the horse population and competition for available horses, especially those
in mid-to-lower level claiming races, prompted Churchill to run 372 races
during the spring meet, compared to 396 races run during the spring of 2013.
“Our spring meet was a success on many levels, headed by
continued growth in Kentucky Derby and Oaks Week, the ongoing popularity of
night racing, the excitement surrounding the introduction of our ‘Big Board’ and
a range of new events and activities introduced in our new Grandstand Terrace
and Pavilion venue and the Paddock Plaza, now in its second year,” Churchill
Downs President Kevin Flanery said.
“Our four night racing programs — including
our ‘Opening Night’ celebration and a trio of ‘Downs After Dark’ events — showed
that our market continues to love the unique combination of racing, food, music
and dancing under the lights. And a pair of new ‘Family Adventure Days’
introduced by our team this spring resulted in an impressive and enthusiastic
response from families in the region and is a concept that displayed potential
for growth in future meets.
“The smaller field sizes are the results of a combination of factors that
include years of substantial decline in the North American foal crop and
increased regional competition for horses from racetracks in Indiana and Ohio
with purses fed by casino revenues. Churchill Downs race purses have remained
basically flat in recent years. We deeply appreciate the efforts of owners and
trainers who have supported us during this meet. We have a talented and
dedicated team in our racing office and our entire team is working on ways to
improve those field size numbers in our upcoming September and fall racing meets
and further down the road.”
Daily purses averaged $532,903 over the meet’s 38 days, a
slight decrease from the 2013 average of $534,942. With 24 fewer races run this
year, purses paid during the just-completed meet totaled $20,250,300, compared
with total purses of $20,327,798 paid a year earlier.
The 2014 spring meet got off to an impressive start with a
strong Kentucky Derby Week culminated by stirring victories by favorites in the
Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks, the track’s signature races that have been run
annually and without interruption since 1875.
Steve Coburn and Perry Martin’s homebred California Chrome,
trained by 77-year-old Art Sherman and ridden by Victor Espinoza, won the famed
“Run for the Roses” to provide the California-bred colt’s owners and trainer
with their first successes in America’s greatest race. With the win, Sherman
became the oldest trainer to saddle a winner of the Kentucky Derby. It was the
second Kentucky Derby victory for Espinoza, who had won its 2002 running aboard
War Emblem.
Winchell Thoroughbreds’ homebred Untapable dominated the
Kentucky Oaks, providing her owner/breeder, trainer Steve Asmussen and
jockey Rosie Napravnik with their second victories in the race three-year-old
fillies. Winchell and Asmussen had won the 2005 Oaks with Summerly, while the
26-year-old Napravnik — the only woman in history to ride a Kentucky Oaks
winner — captured the race for the second time in three years.
Perfect weather on the first Saturday in May helped attract
164,906 Kentucky Derby Day patrons — the second largest crowd in history — and
wagering was brisk on-track, via TwinSpires.com and other online wagering
platforms and at satellite wagering centers across North America. On-track
wagering on the Derby race totaled $11.9 million, an increase of 4 percent from
the 2013 total. On-track wagering on the Derby program of $23.4 million was an
11 percent increase from 2013. Wagering from all-sources on the Kentucky Derby
race card totaled $186.6 million, an increase of 1 percent over the 2013 total
of $184.6 million.
One day earlier 113,071 fans — the third-largest attendance
in the history of the event — gathered at Churchill Downs for the 140th running
of the Kentucky Oaks. Wagering from all sources ranked as the second-highest all
time on both the full 12-race Kentucky Oaks Day card and on the Kentucky Oaks
race. All-sources wagering on the entire card totaled $43.2 million, a decrease
of 5.7 percent from the 2013 total of $45.8 million. All-sources wagering on the
Kentucky Oaks race dropped 1.9 percent to $14.1 million from 2013’s record $14.4
million. On-track wagering on the Oaks Day race card was the fourth-highest of
all-time, coming in at $11.8 million, a 3 percent decrease from 2013’s
near-record $12.2 million. On-track wagering on the Oaks race decreased 3
percent to $3 million from 2013’s record $3.1 million.
All-sources handle for Kentucky Derby Week — beginning with
the “Opening Night” celebration on April 26 through Derby Day,
May 3 — was $253.8 million. The total was down 2 percent from 2013’s
$258.5 million. Attendance for those five days was up 5 percent to 348,530 from
331,922 in 2013.
Festivities surrounding the Kentucky Derby and Kentucky
Oaks continued to generate important funds for partner charities. Checks
totaling $127,000 were presented on June 13 to three charitable
agencies: Bright Pink ($57,000), Horses and Hope ($30,000) and Louisville-based food bank Dare to Care
($40,000)
The latter received its donation from the fifth annual “Taste of Derby” celebration in the North Wing Lobby of Kentucky Fair and Exposition
Center on May 1. The celebration of racing cuisine, celebrity and
style attracted more than 1,500 patrons. Since the inaugural “Taste of Derby” in
2010, Churchill Downs has donated nearly $350,000 to hunger relief organizations
in its home region and around the world.
Churchill Downs resumes for the September Meet,
scheduled over 12 dates (Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays) from September 5-28. The
track’s 26-date fall meet is set for October 26-November 30.
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