Turfway Park’s fall meet set to begin Sept. 6; stakes races cut to maintain overnight purses

Turfway Park will open its 54th fall race meet Sept. 6 with a new post time for night racing, a full slate of events, and a change in smoking policy, but with no stakes on the 16-day schedule.

Pending approval by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, post time Thursday and Friday will be 6:00 p.m., a half-hour later than last fall. Post time Saturday and Sunday remains at 1:10 p.m. The track will present nine races on Thursdays and Sundays and 11 races on Fridays and Saturdays. The meet closes Sept. 30.

In order to maintain daily purses, the track has cut all stakes from the fall schedule, including the Kentucky Cup Day of Champions, five races timed as preps for the Breeders’ Cup World Championships. After a year’s hiatus, the series was reintroduced in 2011 under partial sponsorship by WinStar Farm of Versailles, Ky. While WinStar remained ready to continue its sponsorship this year, Turfway has elected to shift the track’s share of the series’ funding to the overnight purse account. Daily purses are expected to average $110,000, including $18,000 from the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund.

From Turfway Park