 | |
| Location | Boone County, nearFlorence, Kentucky, U.S. |
|---|---|
| Owned by | Churchill Downs, Inc. |
| Date opened | 1959 |
| Course type | Flat/Thoroughbred |
| Notable races | Jeff Ruby Steaks (G3) Kentucky Cup Classic Stakes (G3) |
| Official website | |
Turfway Park is an Americanhorse racing track located within the city limits ofFlorence, Kentucky, about 10 miles (16 km) south of the Ohio River atCincinnati. The track conducts liveThoroughbred horse racing during two meets each year—Holiday (December), and Winter/Spring (January to late March/early April)—and offers year-roundsimulcast wagering from tracks across the continent.
In 2009, the Horseplayers Association of North America introduced a rating system for (currently) 62Thoroughbred racetracks inNorth America. In 2016, Turfway was ranked #11.
Turfway Park opened in Florence, Kentucky, in 1959 asLatonia Race Course. The track is located about 10 miles south of the originalLatonia Race Track inCovington, Kentucky, which hosted Thoroughbred racing from 1883 until it was torn down in 1939. The original Latonia was home to the importantLatonia Derby, which rivaled theKentucky Derby in prestige for many years and shared many of the same horses. The Florence track's name was changed to Turfway Park when Jerry Carroll and his partners purchased the facility in 1986.
In 1999, Carroll sold the track in equal parts to lottery equipment manufacturerGtech, gaming conglomerateHarrah's Entertainment (later renamed as Caesars Entertainment), and the non-profitKeeneland Association, which operates theLexington, Kentucky, race track and Thoroughbred auction facility. In 2005, Gtech sold its interests to the other partners, leaving Keeneland and Harrah's with 50-50 interests.
Turfway is home to theJeff Ruby Steaks, established by then-general manager John Battaglia in 1972 as the Spiral Stakes. Battaglia envisioned a race from which 3-year-olds would "spiral up" to the Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland and then to the Kentucky Derby. The race was sponsored from 1982 through 1998 byJim Beam Distillers, and for one year (1999) byGalleryFurniture.com.Lane's End Farm, one of the world's leading Thoroughbred breeding and sales operations, sponsored the race from 2002 through 2010. Horse farm giantVinery Stables sponsored the Spiral in 2011 and 2012, andHorseshoe Casino Cincinnati (renamed as Jack Cincinnati Casino in 2017) took over sponsorship in 2013. In 2018 the race was renamed the Jeff Ruby Steaks (ahomophone of the word Stakes) as part of a three-year agreement with the owners of Jeff Ruby's Steakhouses. The race attainedGrade II status in 1988 but was downgraded toGrade III in 2011.
Turfway Park was also home to the Kentucky Cup Day of Champions, patterned after (and a prep for) theBreeders' Cup World Championships. The card included five stakes, four of them graded, including the Grade II Kentucky Cup Classic, and was traditionally run four weeks before the Breeders' Cup. The Kentucky Cup series was last run in 2011.
In 2008, the Turfway Park Fall Championship (G3) was named a Breeders' Cup Challenge "Win and You're In" race, with its winner guaranteed a spot in the Breeders' Cup Marathon. The race last ran in 2010, the year winner Eldaafer also won the Breeders' Cup Marathon.
Turfway combined withChurchill Downs, Inc. and other investors to purchase Dueling Grounds Race Course nearFranklin, Kentucky; Turfway retains a small share in the track, since renamedKentucky Downs.
In 2005, Turfway Park became the first track in North America to installPolytrack, an all-weather product, as a racing surface. The visible component combines silica sand, wax, and various fibers; the hidden drainage component allows water to drain quickly through the surface, eliminating the freeze-and-thaw cycles that plagued the track during its winter meets. With the installation, Turfway's track condition is always officially listed as "fast," no matter the weather.
Turfway Park was the fictional setting of the 2005 adventure/comedy movieRacing Stripes. However, no filming took place at Turfway Park; the track was mentioned in name only.
In 2012,Dan Gilbert'sRock Gaming (later renamed as Jack Entertainment) bought a 40 percent stake in Turfway Park from Keeneland.[1] Rock Gaming bought out Caesars's 50 percent stake in the track in 2015.[2][3][4]
In April 2019, Jack Entertainment agreed to sell its stake in Turfway Park toHard Rock International. The transaction was part of a $780-million deal that would also includeJack Cincinnati Casino (which accounted for $745 million of the sale price).[5][6]Churchill Downs, Inc. later replaced Hard Rock as the buyer, agreeing to pay $36 million to Jack and $10 million to Hard Rock.[7] Churchill completed its purchase of the property in October 2019 and said it would demolish the existing grandstand and build a new facility including ahistorical racing parlor.[7][8]
The track is a one-mile oval with quarter-mile and 6½ furlong chutes. The stretch covers 970 feet. In 2020, the Polytrack surface was replaced with Tapeta, a synthetic surface consisting of a mixture of silica sand, wax, and fibres. Turfway Park has no turf course.
The grandstand was razed in 2020 to make way for a new facility. The property contains stabling for about 1,000 horses.
Tony Calo (2023-Present) Track Announcer
Kaitlin Free (2021–Present) Television Analyst
Ed Derosa (2021) Television Analyst
Turfway Park has offered the following stakes races. * indicates active races.
The following Graded events are held at Turfway Park.
Grade III
Turfway Park's sister property,Newport Racing & Gaming, is agaming facility inNewport, Kentucky. It is located in the Newport Shopping Center, directly across theOhio River fromCincinnati, Ohio and owned and operated byLouisville-basedChurchill Downs Incorporated. The $38.4 million facility officially opened on Friday October 2, 2020.[9][10][11]
There are nocasinos in Kentucky due to its gambling laws which only allow for betting onhorse racing,[12] so it has 500historical racing machines on a 16,000 square foot gaming floor. The machines look like and play much likeslot machines but are allowed under Kentucky gambling laws. The betting outcomes are based on actual horse race results from over 100 years of historical data to determine winning combinations with apari-mutuel formula that determines payouts. There is a 4,000 square footsimulcast area where guests can watch and wager on horse racing from across the country including at the nearby Turfway Park Racing & Gaming inFlorence, Kentucky, which is also owned and operated by Churchill Downs.
On Wednesday, November 24, 2021, Newport Racing & Gaming opened a 14,000 sq. ft. addition to the property that included a separate indoor area for smoking and gaming featuring a new bar and stage area for live entertainment. The build out effectively created two distinct areas within the property, with the new area designated for smoking and the original gaming floor which has remained smoke-free.[13][14]
It has a food and beverage outlet – Smiley's Bar & Grille.
39°01′31″N84°38′06″W / 39.025202°N 84.634906°W /39.025202; -84.634906