Record Purse Money Dispersed During Churchill Fall Meet

[Wandering Eyes]

The recently concluded fall meet at Churchill Downs saw horsemen racing for record average daily purse money, excluding figures for the two-day Breeders’ Cup meeting.

Over the course of 19 days of racing, daily purse money averaged $604,432, an impressive 20.9% increase on the $499,959 on offer last fall. Average prize money per race was $57,135, up 20.3% on the $47,507 recorded in 2017. Maiden special weight races were worth a record $76,000, while allowance races ranged from $78,500 to $90,000.

A total of 201 races were staged that attracted 1,789 runners, an average of a strong 8.9 horses per race. Nearly nine of every 10 races included seven or more starters.

Track officials attributed the increase to the early returns from historical racing machines now in use at Derby City Gaming, CDI’s $65-million state-of-the-art facility that was opened just this past September.

Average purse money has grown by a whopping 76.5% over a five-year period. By comparison, total daily purse money during the 2013 fall meet was $32,373 and daily purses averaged $328,911.

The positive results were achieved under less-than-optimal weather conditions. The average daily temperature for the month of November was 43 degrees, and as a result, just 46% (23 of 50) of races carded for the grass remained on the surface. The condition of the turf course never reached firm during the meet (seven races were run on ground listed as good, 11 on yielding and five over soft turf).

“This was an incredibly strong fall meet,” said Churchill Downs Racetrack President Kevin Flanery. “The hailed return of the Breeders’ Cup World Championships to Louisville on opening week after a seven-year hiatus helped set the tone for an outstanding season. Day in and day out, our horsemen, their owners and a robust jockey colony delivered an attractive and competitive racing product that appealed to bettors around the world. We express sincere gratitude to them for their continued support of our thriving racing program, and thank the horseplayers, guests and the greater Louisville community for backing our entertainment experience.”

Tyler Gaffalione, riding regularly for the first time at Churchill, built on a strong Keeneland meeting to edge perennial leading jockey Corey Lanerie by a count of 21 winners to 20. Steve Asmussen and Dallas Stewart were tied among trainers with 11 winners, while Loooch Racing was the meet’s leading owner with five trips to the winner’s circle.

Churchill will again conduct three meets in 2019-the spring meet (Apr. 27-June 29), the September meet (Sept. 13-29) and the fall meet will extend to 26 days in 2019 from Oct. 27-Dec. 1.

 

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