By Bill Finley
For the last several years, Kentucky Downs has been the track that had almost everything. Big fields, huge purses and a betting handle that increases exponentially every year. But one thing has largely been missing–European shippers. Despite an all-turf meet, the purses and the fact that Kentucky Downs is much like a European turf course, the meet hadn't really registered with European horsemen.
That has changed.
According to Martin Panza, the co-director of racing at Kentucky Downs, which kicks off its annual seven-day meet Thursday, as many as 16 European-based horses will appear in the entries during the meet. Two will take part in Saturday's GIII Nashville Derby, which is worth a a staggering $3.1 million. Joseph O'Brien will be represented by Stromberg (GB) (Ifraaj {GB}) and Andrew Balding will be represented by Bellum Justum (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}). Sea The Thunder (GB) Kingman {GB}) will also be making his first start outside of Europe, but has been turned over to American-based trainer Cherie DeVaux. The list of European trainers set to take part at the meet includes Aidan O'Brien.
Kentucky Downs management had been working overtime to try to get more participation from the Europeans and that is starting to pay off.
“[Track owners] Ron Winchell and Marc Falcone wanted to try to get more Europeans to improve the racing and work on the brand,” Panza said. “We hired the International Racing Bureau [IRB] to help us. I have worked with Adrian Beaumont from the IRB for 35 years, going back to my days at Hollywood Park. Ron and Mark made a commitment to get some Europeans here. About three or four months ago, I started going back and forth with Adrian. We started emailing and talking to trainers to let them know about the racing here. It's gone pretty well and we have raised interest in Europe. We have turf races here on an undulating turf course and that's a plus. Any time you inject races into the calendar, it takes some time for them to catch on, especially in Europe, where they're used to going in certain races. They're trying to get to the Arc or some other big races and there's normally a pattern in Europe on how to get there. We just needed to let them know what's going on here and educate them. We let them know we have these opportunities here in late August and early September. You can run in our races and still make Arc Day or the British Champions Day in October. They have a lot of money here and they want to make racing as good as they can. Why not bring in European horses?”
Total purses at the meet are $37 million, of which about $15 million is from the Kentucky Thoroughbred and Development Fund. That means that non-Kentucky breds run for less money, but the purses are still so big that even if only 50% of the pot is available to a non-Kentucky bred, the resulting purse is usually still better than anything typically offered at this time of year in Europe.
One European trainer who will not have to worry about the smaller purses is the Irish-based trainer Michael O'Callaghan. He has brought over Kentucky-bred Black Forza (Complexity) for the $750,000 Kentucky Downs Juvenile Sprint. The horse won the G2 Richmond S. at Goodwood in his last outing.
“We came basically for the purse,” O'Callaghan said. “These purses are hard to ignore. We have a Kentucky-bred, so he's running for the full purse. We have a high-caliber horse that can participate and should have a good shot to win. I've had my eye on Kentucky Downs for a while. Even if you don't have a Kentucky-bred and are running for 50% of the purse, the money is still too much to ignore. This meet needs to be supported. A lot of the jurisdictions in Europe think people will continue to support their races purely because of the tradition some have. They have to realize that horse racing is an expensive game and people are willing to travel when there is good prize money available. We've come a long way to compete in this race, but it was an easy decision.
“I think you'll see more coming. A lot of it will come down to how successful the Europan horses do there. When Ancient Rome came over last year and won [in the GIII Mint Millions S.], that didn't go unnoticed. If Europeans do well they'll support the meet even more in the future. If you have a European horse that likes fast ground, this is the place to come to. Even if they are not a Kentucky-bred and run for half the prize money, that's still better than anything we have in Europe. It's been slow to catch on, but I think that's going to change.”
The opening-day card consists of 11 races and, including the also-eligibles, 148 horses have been entered. The feature race is the $500,000 Tapit Stakes. The big money will really start to roll in on Saturday, when there will be 11 races that have attracted 165 entries. There are three stakes on the card worth a total of $6.1 million. With its $3.1-million purse, the Nashville Derby is the richest race run in Kentucky after the GI Kentucky Derby. It is also the biggest purse offered in the U.S. after the Derby and the GI Breeders' Cup Turf and the GI Breeders' Cup Classic.
There will be seven races at the meet worth at least $2 million and eight more with purses of at least $1 million.
Tyler Gaffalione was the leading rider last year with 12 wins. Trainer Mike Maker has traditionally dominated the meet and has won 84 races there going back to 2005. But Maker was cold last year, winning only five races. Brendan Walsh was last year's leading trainer with eight wins.
After this Thursday and Saturday, Kentucky Downs will have five more dates, Sept. 1, Sept. 5, Sept. 7, Sept. 8, and Sept. 11. The Sept. 7 program will feature six stakes, all worth $2 million. There are seven races at the meet worth at least $2 million and eight more with purses of at least $1 million.
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