Ron Winchell

The digital sports entertainment and gaming company DraftKings will have access to operate mobile sports betting in Kentucky--pending licensure and regulatory approvals--under an agreement with ECL Corbin, LLC announced Tuesday. In addition to offering mobile sports betting, DraftKings and Corbin will also open retail sportsbooks at Corbin properties. ECL Corbin is a wholly owned subsidiary of ECL Entertainment, LLC, dba The Mint Gaming Hall at Cumberland and Cumberland Run ("Corbin"). "Together with the Corbin properties, we're excited to bring our premier sports betting experience to yet another state and its...

Kentucky Downs's GII Kentucky Turf Cup will now be worth $1.7 million in 2023, with the winner earning more than $1 million if bred in Kentucky. Even horses that aren't registered Kentucky-breds will compete for $1.3 million, the winner of the 1 1/2-mile stakes making about $800,000, the track said in a release Wednesday. In addition, four other stakes are being raised to $1 million to bring the total of seven-figure races to 11 at the all-turf FanDuel Meet at Kentucky Downs. The most lucrative meet in North America--including the...

The Mint Event Center was officially launched Wednesday morning with a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by local, regional and state civic leaders and officials, including business representatives from Kentucky and Tennessee, The Mint Gaming and Kentucky Downs said in a release. The Event Center is Simpson County's largest space for events and conventions, which is positioned as the area's newest location for weddings, parties, conferences, corporate meetings and live entertainment. The space can accommodate groups from 12 to 445 people. "All the economic development you see here is exactly an example...

The GIII Mint Millions S. will become the first $2-million race ever run at Kentucky Downs, as well as the richest American turf race outside of the Breeders' Cup, when it is run Sept. 2 at the Franklin track. The one-mile Mint Millions offers a base purse of $1 million, with another $1 million from the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund (KTDF). Last year, the base was $600,000, with a $400,000 supplement from the KTDF. The Millions was one of 17 stakes--including nine graded events--that was unveiled Wednesday for the track's...

A Sunday afternoon in August, back in the 1970s, and a student at U.C. Davis is trying to catch up on his history notes ahead of his final semester. There's a knock at the door. Two girls. "They wanted to know if my roommate Morgan was home," remembers David Fiske. "He was not. Asked if my roommate Jeff was home. He was not. Asked if my roommate Pat was home. He was not." Nothing else for it, so they wondered if Fiske would like to come along to a party....

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency 8th-OP, $103K, OC, 3yo, 1m, 5:10 p.m. Last year at this time, Epicenter (Not This Time) was making his case as the Derby favorite after declaring victory in the GII Risen S. at Fair Grounds. This Sunday in Hot Springs, another Winchell Thoroughbreds-owned colt, DISARM (Gun Runner), who is a Triple Crown nominee, will begin to layout his own path to be in the starting gate in early May. A game third on debut to GIII Sanford S. victor Mo Strike (Uncle Mo) at Churchill...

Ron Winchell, who campaigned champion Gun Runner, as well as several of the stallion's early star offspring, went to $1.5 million to acquire a bay filly (hip 87) by the sire Monday at Keeneland. Winchell purchased the filly in partnership with Three Chimneys Farm. She is out of Tip at Tapit (Tapit), a full-sister to Grade I winner Time and Motion. The filly was consigned by Darby Dan Farm and was bred by Phillips Racing Partnership and the Gun Runner Syndicate.   🌟 @keenelandsales September: Hip 87, a Gun Runner...

Pneumatic (Uncle Mo--Teardrop, by Tapit) has been sold to stand the 2022 southern hemisphere season at Haras Abolengo in Argentina. Campaigned by Ron Winchell and Steve Asmussen, the bay colt won his first two starts at three before finishing third in Churchill's GIII Matt Win S. Fourth in the GI Belmont S., the homebred bounced back to win the TVG.com Pegasus S. And subsequently finished 10th after sustaining injury during the running of that season's GI Preakness S. Placing in one of two starts the following season, he retired with...

Saturday's GI Preakness S. winner Early Voting (Gun Runner) was back in his stall at Belmont Park by mid-morning Sunday, some 15 hours after scoring a 1 1/4-length victory over favored Epicenter (Not This Time) in Saturday's Middle Jewel of the Triple Crown. Trainer Chad Brown traveled from Baltimore to New York overnight and was at Belmont Sunday to oversee what is typically a busy morning of timed workouts for horses in his stable. During a brief break, Brown said that Early Voting, owned by Seth Klarman's Klaravich Stables, came...

LOUISVILLE, KY -  As the all-time leading trainer at Churchill Downs, no one has won more races beneath the Twin Spires than Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen. Just not on the first Saturday in May. Heading into GI Kentucky Derby 148 with 7-2 morning-line second choice Epicenter (Not This Time), as expected, Asmussen's well-documented 23-0-2-2 record in the 'Run for the Roses' has been a major topic of discussion. "I don't know if it's healthy to want anything that much," Asmussen said. "I grew up in horseracing. We've been unbelievably...

The sports marketing and technology startup OpenLocker, Inc. has launched OpenStable marketplace, a fan-friendly blockchain platform designed to engage a new generation of Thoroughbred racing fans. The Legendary Racing Prospects Collection of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) will initially include GI Kentucky Derby contender Epicenter and GI Kentucky Oaks hopeful Echo Zulu. OpenLocker is looking to expand its Bone Yard Huskyz Club for sports fans at the University of Connecticut with a platform which allows racing fans to become part of an exclusive community. "We are excited to bring together the technology...

Officials from Keeneland and Kentucky Downs broke ground Monday on Cumberland Run harness track in Corbin, Ky. and Cumberland Mint, a satellite historical horse racing venue in Williamsburg, Ky. The project is a joint venture between Ron Winchell and Marc Falcone's ECL Racing Management and Keeneland Association. Winchell and Falcone are the majority owners and managing partners in Kentucky Downs and The Mint Gaming Hall in Franklin in south-central Kentucky between Bowling Green and Nashville. Projections call for construction to be done in time for Cumberland Run to conduct its...