LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – Churchill Downs announced Saturday that it is suspending turf races for at least two weeks on its new $10 million turf course to allow the root system time to recover after its first five weeks of racing.
“In order to allow our new turf course to continue to develop its root system, we have suspended turf racing for the next two weeks,” Churchill Downs President Mike Anderson said in a statement released by the track on Saturday. “The new Bermuda-hybrid grass was installed last fall and will continue to mature during the very warm days and weeks ahead. We’ve made a long-term investment in our turf course, and we’re confident this brief pause will allow it to become more robust.”
The course, which was put down in October, opened to positive reviews – and the major investment at Churchill is expected to produce a vastly improved turf course in the long run. But over the course of the spring, some horses have not handled the footing as well, and the course has become noticeably worn in places.
Groundskeepers have mowed the course shorter to promote root growth, but the softening of the root system has made for less stability.
On Friday, Gingrich, a 3-year-old colt in a $50,000 allowance race on the turf, was pulled up while on the lead in the second race and later was vanned off and euthanized with a compound fracture.
Horses race on the first night of turf racing on Churchill Downs' renovated turf course on Kentucky Oaks Day, May 7, 2022.
His trainer, Bryan Lynch, told BloodHorse.com, “You hate to jeopardize any more horses if it is something that just needs to back off and give the turf course (time) to get a root system in for the summer. We don't need to watch what happened yesterday happen again."
Last week, the track told horseman it was cutting its number of turf races from three per day to two through the end of its meet. Now it will keep horses off the turf track for at least two weeks, then evaluate.
In Churchill Downs first scheduled turf race on Saturday, a 1-mile, $80,000 claiming race for fillies, 11 have been scratched with only a field of 5 moving to the dirt. In the other turf race, the $160,000 Mighty Beau Overnight Stakes, there have been 3 scratched with 9 still scheduled to go to post.
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