Handle Rises 36.5% at Turfway Park Winter/Spring Meet
Augustin Stable, Wesley Ward, and Gerardo Corrales topped the meet standings.
A 36.5% increase of all-sources handle and a slight increase in starters per race topped Turfway Park's 38-day winter/spring meet that opened Jan. 1 and concluded March 27, according to a track release.
Turfway Park's meet saw overall handle grow to $81.7 million, a $21.9 million increase from 2020. All sources handle per day was up 32.9%. The average field size topped 9.8 horses per race, up slightly from last year's 9.7 starters per race.
This winter/spring meet was the first since the track replaced its aging Polytrack with Tapeta as its synthetic surface. The track's holiday meet in December was also run over Tapeta.
"We can't thank our owners, trainers, jockeys, and horseplayers enough for supporting our meet," Turfway Park general manager Chip Bach said in a release tributed by the track's owner, Churchill Downs Inc. "Our team put together a competitive racing product that appealed to horseplayers nationwide. The positive feedback from the installation of our Tapeta surface was universal from trainers and jockeys. Through Churchill Downs Inc.'s continued investment to renovate Turfway Park, we are looking forward to the future of horse racing in Florence."
The track had a ground-breaking ceremony with politicians March 19 for the construction of a new grandstand and historical horse racing gaming facility.
Six live racing days were canceled at Turfway this year due to inclement weather. Five days were made up by adding an additional race day over a series of weeks.
Gerardo Corrales led all riders with 40 victories, seven ahead of second-place Rafael Bejarano. A graduate of the Laffit Pincay Jockey School, Corrales' meet was capped by a victory aboard Outadore in the Animal Kingdom Stakes on the undercard of the Jeff Ruby Steaks (G3) from this past Saturday.
Trainer Wesley Ward's victory with Like the King in the $250,000 Jeff Ruby were among his 21 wins at the meet that led all trainers, nine more than Billy Morey, who relocated to Kentucky in 2019 from California.
"Kentucky is the epicenter for sales and racing," Morey said. "We had a fantastic meet at Turfway and really enjoyed running over the Tapeta surface."
Augustin Stable led the owner standings with eight wins from 20 starts, all with jockey Chris Landeros aboard. Augustin Stable finished two wins in front of Small Town Paddock, who recorded six wins through nine starts. They were one win in front of Live Oak Plantation's five wins from eight starters.
A trio of horses recorded three wins at the meet: Richard Alderson's Till Then , who won two of his races under former owner Augustin Stable, and Small Town Paddock's Floroplus and Kynance .
Racing in Kentucky shifts to Keeneland April 2 for their spring meet, which runs through April 23. Churchill Downs then operates a spring meet from April 24-June 26, highlighted by the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) May 1.