Year-round racing
Three breeds, seven courses and 12 months of fun
For many Kentuckians, Louisville’s Churchill Downs and Lexington’s Keeneland Race Course are the first tracks that come to mind when thinking of horse racing in the commonwealth. But now there are seven other tracks—spanning three breeds, including the reintroduction of quarter horses—that offer racing throughout the year.
These seven tracks spread across the state all offer some form of free admission and are family friendly for the races. Whether or not you bet, going to these tracks is a fun outing that allows kids of all ages to get right on the rail to see the beauty of racehorses up close and experience the excitement of racing. (Guests must be at least 21 to enter the gaming areas at each venue.)
With the addition of Sandy’s Racing and Gaming quarter horse track in Ashland in 2025, the vast majority of Kentuckians will be 100 miles or less from a racetrack.
“Kentucky is now the home of the best year-round thoroughbred racing circuit in the country and, with two new standardbred tracks joining the historic Red Mile, we have a growing harness racing circuit, too,” says state Senate Majority Leader Damon Thayer of Georgetown, who has championed bipartisan legislation that strengthened and encouraged investment in the racing industry. “With a new quarter horse track being built in Ashland, there’s some form of live horse racing in every corner of the state to entertain Kentucky and for everyone who loves the sport.”
Kentucky’s thoroughbred racing kicks off in January in Florence at Turfway Park, running through late March. Keeneland runs in April and Churchill Downs’ spring meet is mostly in May and June.
Ellis Park in Henderson races in July through August 25 this year. Kentucky Downs’ all-grass meet in Franklin then picks up, offering some of the most lucrative purses in the world in late August and the first part of September. That’s followed by Churchill Downs’ short meet, September 12–29; Keeneland, October 4–26; then back to Churchill, October 27–December 1; and returning to Turfway on December 4 for the northern Kentucky track’s holiday meet.
Though 2025 dates won’t be awarded until late this year, the standardbred season is in full flight. Oak Grove near Fort Campbell in western Kentucky started in April and runs until mid-July. That’s when Lexington’s Red Mile takes over, going until October 6 this year.
Cumberland Run, owned by a partnership headed by Kentucky Downs’ managing partners with Keeneland a minority investor, will conduct its second standardbred meet this fall amid the red and gold foliage of Appalachia’s picturesque Cumberland Plateau region. Check out the trotters and pacers competing on Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays October 13 through November 5.
The racing provides an outdoor fair atmosphere along the five-eighths of a mile track, with picnic tables, a large canopy tent and concession stands featuring local vendors. Carved out of the natural topography, the backdrop is a rock wall, giving a literal meaning to “moving a mountain” to make something happen.
“I am so glad to see so many smiling faces,” Corbin Mayor Suzie Razmus told the crowd on last year’s opening day. “This has been a road we have been on for many, many years and we’re finally here … We’re looking forward to many years of good times right here on this hill.”
Ellis Park in Henderson races July through August 25 this year.
Expansion everywhere
Kentucky Downs, about 30 miles north of Nashville, paved the way for the state’s racing expansion when the previous ownership group in 2011 added a form of electronic gaming that mimics slot machines. Such historical horse racing, as it’s known, directly led to the construction of the Churchill Downs Inc.-owned Oak Grove, which opened in 2019, Cumberland Run and now Sandy’s.
Kentucky Downs is the only all-grass track in North America, its 1 5/16-mile distance matching Belmont Park as the largest turf courses in the United States. Kentucky Downs also is the only American thoroughbred track that resembles an elongated and lopsided pear, similar to the undulating courses in Europe rather than the typical American oval.
Churchill Downs Inc. also bought Turfway Park in late 2019 and Ellis Park in late 2022, tearing down Turfway’s enclosed grandstand/clubhouse and building a new structure housing historical horse racing, sports betting and an event center for watching winter horse racing while indoors.
Ellis Park, built 102 years ago, is the second-oldest thoroughbred track in Kentucky behind 150-year-old Churchill Downs. Located on the tiny sliver of Kentucky that is north of the Ohio River, Ellis is unique with its 25 acres of soybeans in the infield that led to the track nickname “the Pea Patch.” With picnic tables and a grassy expanse between the grandstand and the paddock, Ellis Park is well-suited for families with young kids.
Turfway Park’s signature $700,000 Jeff Ruby Steaks (whose prior names include the Spiral Stakes and Jim Beam Stakes) in late March is celebrated as the launch of spring and the Derby season in Kentucky. The 1 1/8-mile race for 3-year-olds has produced three Kentucky Derby winners, most recently Rich Strike in 2022, and runner-up Two Phil’s in 2023.
Oak Grove begins its season as Kentucky’s redbud, crabapple and dogwood trees burst into spring color. Fans attending the races over the five-eighths of a mile track can watch from a terrace populated with rocking chairs and picnic tables.
The Red Mile, with its fabled red clay, opened in 1875, a few months after Churchill Downs, and is arguably standardbred racing’s most hallowed venue. The last two weeks of the meet features the Grand Circuit (September 26–October 6 this year), showcasing the best 2- and 3-year-old trotters and pacers in the country and headlined by the 131-year-old Kentucky Futurity for 3-year-old trotters.
Sandy’s Racing held quarter horse meets at The Red Mile in 2023 and 2024. The name references the Little Sandy River that runs behind the Ashland property that will host the races next year.
“Northeast Kentucky has a rich history with horse racing, from the days of thoroughbred racing at Jack Keene’s Raceland track in the mid-1920s to this new chapter of quarter horse racing in Boyd County,” says Kentucky state Sen. Robin Webb, a self-described horsewoman whose district includes Ashland.
“Quarter horse racing should thrive with our central location, horse culture and a love for horse sports in general,” she says. “We have two local high schools with rodeo teams already and I expect great community involvement in all the equine activities that the facility should ultimately create, along with encouraging more visitors and tourists to discover our river valley region.”
Built 102 years ago, Ellis
Park is known as “the
Pea Patch” due to crops
historically grown in the
infield. Photo: Kurtis
Coady Photography
The long and the short of Kentucky’s three racing breeds
Thoroughbred racing
Thoroughbreds, by far the dominant horse-racing breed in America and overall in the world, compete with riders over varying distances, from 4 1/2 furlongs (a furlong is an eighth-mile) for 2-year-olds in April at Keeneland, to 2 miles or more (admittedly rarely run). In Kentucky, thoroughbreds compete over dirt, grass and synthetic surfaces. Turfway Park has only a synthetic surface, while Kentucky Downs is only turf. Churchill Downs, Keeneland and Ellis Park have both dirt and turf tracks.
Thoroughbreds’ bloodlines are tightly controlled by a breed registry that started in England in 1791. The American Stud Book was first published in 1873 by Kentuckian Col. Sanders D. Bruce and has been overseen by The Jockey Club since 1896.
The breed traces to three foundation stallions: the Darley Arabian, Godolphin Arabian and Byerly Turk, imported to England from the Middle East and Turkey between 1689 and 1729. The stallions were bred to Britain’s stronger but less precocious horses. The start of a selective breeding process led to horses that could carry weight and their speed over extended distances. That made them ideal for the sport of horse racing that was becoming increasingly popular.
Every horse in the American Stud Book has had its pedigree verified, with today’s foals requiring DNA authentication that they are 100% thoroughbred.
Most U.S. tracks are mile ovals, including Churchill Downs and Turfway Park’s synthetic surface. But some are 1 1/16 miles (Keeneland) or 1 1/8 miles (Ellis Park) and Kentucky Downs’ asymmetric 1 5/16-mile matches the largest turf course in America.
Speed: Thoroughbreds reach 40 mph and can approach 45 mph for short distances. Dr. Fager in 1968 at Chicago’s now-defunct Arlington Park set a world record for a mile on dirt in 1:32 1/5 (before races were timed in hundredths), while the North American record for a mile on turf is 1:31.23.
Standardbred (aka harness) racing
The standardbred breed also strictly adheres to a registry. The name is derived from the time standards that horses must meet for a mile in order to race. As the secondary name implies, horses wear harnesses fixed to lightweight two-wheel race bikes (also known as sulkies) with drivers. With very few exceptions, harness races are held at a mile, whether over The Red Mile’s mile clay or the five-eighths of a mile limestone tracks at Oak Grove and Cumberland Run. The U.S. Trotting Association is a good source of information.
Standardbreds are a gaited breed, with races specified for either trotting or pacing. Both are two-beat gaits, with trotters’ legs moving together in diagonal pairs while pacers’ front and hind legs on a side move forward in tandem.
The modern standardbred traces to Hambletonian (1849-1876), who in turn is the great-grandson of the thoroughbred Messenger, who was imported from England to America in 1788.
Speed: Standardbred horses can reach speeds exceeding 30 mph. Bulldog Hanover set a world record on July 16, 2022, pacing the mile in 1:45 4/5 at New Jersey’s The Meadowlands. The fastest mile trot was Homicide Hunter’s 1:48 4/5 in 2018 at The Red Mile.
Quarter Horse: The sprint breed
The American quarter horse is billed as the world’s most versatile and popular breed. Its disciplines including racing, showing, ranching, timed events such as barrel racing or being simply trail and workhorses.
The breed traces to Colonial farmers in the Carolinas and Virginia who bred their English stock to the Chickasaw Indians’ Spanish Barbs as early as 1611. Thoroughbreds’ foundation stallion, The Godolphian Arabian, played an important role with the 1752 importation of his grandson Janus, a long-course racer who stamped his offspring produced from Chickasaw mares with speed, compactness, strength and power. Learn more about the breed from the American Quarter Horse Association.
As Thoroughbred racing increased in popularity in the East, the quarter horse moved west, with the breed getting infused with the blood of the mustang. The first registrant in the American Quarter Horse Association’s first stud book was King Ranch’s Wimpy, who won the stallion class at the 1941 edition of what today is called the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo.
The Quarter Horse name refers to the popular quarter-mile distance horses raced on village streets in Colonial America. Races today range from 110 yards for 2-year-olds to 880 yards, but the most popular remains 440 yards—a quarter-mile.
More than 6 million horses have been registered by the American Quarter Horse Association, making it the world’s most popular horse breed, according to the organization. A registered quarter horse can be bred to a registered Thoroughbred, but no other breed, to be accepted into the registry.
Speed: American quarter horses can race at speeds nearing 55 mph.
Racing and more
Combine a trip to the track—fun in itself—with an expanded travel agenda that takes in more attractions. Check track websites for exact racing dates and starting times.
Cumberland Run (standard breds, this October 13, 14, 15, 20, 21, 22, 27, 28, 29 and November 3, 4, 5.) 777 Winners Lane, Corbin; themintcumberlandrun.com, (606) 620-0250.
Cumberland Falls State Resort Park, 7351 Highway 90, Corbin; parks.ky.gov, (606) 528-4121.
- Hiking, camping, birding, horseback riding, fishing, rafting and even gem mining—and Cumberland Falls is one of the few places in the world regularly featuring a moonbow (lunar rainbow).
Harland Sanders Cafe and Museum, 688 U.S. Highway 25 W., Corbin; sanderscafe.com, (606) 528-2163.
- The birthplace of Kentucky Fried Chicken and on the National Register of Historic Places, it features exhibits and memorabilia from the early days of KFC.
John James Audubon State Park and Audubon Museum & Nature Center, 3100 U.S. Highway 41, Henderson; parks.ky.gov, (270) 826-2247. The park offers birding, fishing, camping, hiking, golf, lodging and camping.
Ellis Park (thoroughbreds, July 4–August 25 this year) 3300 U.S. Highway 41 N., Henderson; ellisparkracing.com, (812) 425-1456.
Blue Moon Stables, 8124 State Route 268, Corydon; blue-moon-stables.com, (270) 957-0234.
- A riding stable on an interactive family farm aimed at sharing equine passion and knowledge with guests of all ages in a fun, friendly environment.
Kentucky Downs (thoroughbreds, August 29, 31 and Sept. 1, 5, 7, 8 and 11 this year) 5629 Nashville Road, Franklin; https://themintkentuckydowns.com, (270) 586-7778.
Octagon Hall, 6040 Bowling Green Road, Franklin; www.octagonhallmuseum.com, (270) 266-1294.
- This antebellum landmark known for Civil War history and paranormal activity was built in 1847. The eight-sided, three-story brick structure calls itself one of the most haunted places in the South and is on the National Register of Historic Places and the Civil War Discovery Trail.
Kenny Perry’s Country Creek Golf Course, 1075 Kenny Perry Drive, Franklin; www.kpcountrycreek.com, (270) 586-9373.
- The 18-hole public course designed by the veteran touring pro as his hometown course with a layout created to make the game fun for all levels.
Sanford Duncan Inn & Bourbon Tasting Room, 5083 Nashville Road, Franklin; sanfordduncan.org, (270) 586-3040.
- Built in 1819 as an overnight inn and stagecoach stop on the Nashville to Louisville Pike, this bit of Kentucky notched into northern Tennessee also was a noted dueling ground, given that duels were illegal in Tennessee. Dueling Grounds bourbon tasting room open seasonally.
Oak Grove Racing (standardbreds, April through mid-July) 777 Winners Way, Oak Grove; oakgrovegaming.com, (270) 984-4200
Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area, 238 Visitor Center Drive, Golden Pond; https://landbetweenthelakes.us, (800) 525-7077.
- The 170,000-acre inland peninsula was formed when the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers were impounded, creating Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley, one of the world’s largest man-made bodies of water. Options include boating, fishing, hunting, horseback riding, camping and over 200 miles of hiking trails—plus one of the largest remaining herds of buffalo in the U.S.
U.S. Army Fort Campbell, 7199 Glider Road off of Fort Campbell Blvd., Fort Campbell (this is Gate 7, the Visitor Control Center); home.army.mil/campbell/my-fort/visitors, (270) 956-4488.
- Visitors can explore the nearby hiking trails and parks, such as the War Memorial Walking Trail Park and the Don F. Pratt Memorial Museum to learn about the history of the famed 101st Airborne Division, also known as the Screaming Eagles.
Red Mile (standardbreds, July 21–Oct. 6 this year), 1200 Red Mile Road, Lexington; redmileky.com, (859) 255-0752.
Old Friends equine retirement farm, 1841 Paynes Depot Road, Georgetown; www.oldfriendsequine.org, (502) 863-1775.
- Racing’s “living museum” features prominent retired racehorses led by 1997 Kentucky Oaks and Preakness winner Silver Charm.
Kentucky Horse Park, 4089 Iron Works Pike, Lexington; www.kyhorsepark.com, (859) 233-4303.
- The park features everything from horse shows to guided trail rides suitable for newbies, plus The Hall of Champions showing different breeds and the International Museum of the Horse.
Sandy’s Racing (quarter horses, March) 10775 U.S. Highway 60, Ashland; sandysgaming.com, (844) 726-3971
Downtown Ashland, www.visitaky.com.
- Ashland’s four-block downtown district on the Ohio Riverfront takes in the historic Paramount Arts Center, Broadway Square and the murals in Art Alley, as well as the world’s tallest mythical bronze sculptures, which feature a nightly light show. Flood wall murals are part of the mile Art Walk around downtown that starts at the beautiful Port of Ashland.
Turfway Park (thoroughbreds, December 4–28 this year and January–March 2025. Night racing except for the signature Jeff Ruby Steaks card in late March.) 7500 Turfway Road, Florence; turfway.com, (859) 371-0200.
Newport Aquarium, 1 Aquarium Way, Newport; www.newportaquarium.com, (800) 406-3474. Check out the new Ring of Fire: World of the Octopus exhibit, along with favorites like the Shark Bridge and penguin viewing.
Newport on the Levee, One Levee Way, Newport; www.newportonthelevee.com, (859) 291-0550.
- This riverfront destination boasts live entertainment, 20-screen movie theater and a plethora of restaurants. Walk the Purple People Bridge, a pedestrian bridge that crosses the Ohio River.
