Kentucky Downs Kentucky Thoroughbred Race Track
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Kentucky Downs History & General Information
In its early years, Simpson County, Kentucky was known as a dueling ground. The farm of Sanford Duncan, near the Tennessee state line, was the site of several "affairs of honor." Duncan built an inn where duelists gathered before meeting each other in battle. Among those who dueled in Simpson County was Sam Houston, later the governor of Texas, who in September 1826 severely wounded his opponent, Gen. William White. Dueling in the county ended in 1827.
Jump forward in time to April 22, 1990, when Dueling Grounds racetrack opened for its first race meet: a one-day affair consisting of four steeplechase races, all stakes, worth a total of $1.125 million in purses. The track was initially developed and owned by Bradley Mike Shannon, a Lexington horseman who constructed the track for $12 million on 300 acres adjacent to Interstate 65. Amenities for opening day included the two-story colonial style clubhouse, complete with the "Sly Fox Restaurant", 250 televisions, six concession areas, and 250 reserved bleacher seats at the finish line.
In the days before simulcasting was commonplace, Dueling Grounds was opened partly on the hope that it would serve as a simulcast outlet for the potentially lucrative Nashville market, 30 miles to the south. This caused some contention with local residents and legislators, as they claimed that they were told this would not be the case. Also on the docket in 1990 was the first attempt to allow liquor sales in Dueling Ground's district, but it was narrowly defeated in a precinct-wide vote. As a result of the defeat, the track began selling memberships to its private club, which allowed patrons to bring their own liquor into the Sly Fox restaurant for consumption.
The following year, 1991, saw Dr. Arnold Pessin, who had previously served as a consultant to Shannon, taking over as the track president, chief executive, and general manager and the return of the one-day steeplechase meet. Victorian Hill defeated the 1989 Eclipse champion Highland Bud in the $250,000 feature race.
1992 saw the dawn of flat racing at Dueling Grounds, as the track management thought it more profitable to card flat racing than steeplechasing. Replacing the jump stakes were the $300,000 Sam Houston Handicap, the $100,000 Sanford Duncan, and the $150,000 Rachael Jackson. 8,500 people gathered to watch Drummer Boy win the feature race. More troubling was the federal grand jury probe that hung over the owner and manager of the track; concerns centered around state government corruption in relation to the development of the racecourse. Later that fall, the Kentucky Racing Commission granted Kentucky Downs a seven-day race schedule for 1993.
Shannon and Pessin decided to go public with the track in 1993, offering nearly 7.5 million shares of stock on the Vancouver, British Columbia exchange. Legal troubles persisted, and in 1994 the news came out that a Nashville couple, Earl and Rita Sinks, were interested in acquiring the track. Sinks paid $4.3 million to Shannon for his stock, which translated into owning a little over 50% of the track. Sinks planned to turn it into an entertainment center as well as a site for thoroughbred racing. The Sinks owned Heirloom Music Corporation, a collection of master recordings of mainly country music. The 1994 race meet consisted of nine days of racing. Sinks was granted final approval for ownership by the Kentucky Racing Commission on March 12, 1995.
Gary Wilfert to over the general manager duties in 1995, and Dueling Ground began to run their September weekend cards in conjunction with Turfway Park. Track management spoke of expanding the race schedule in the future, but the 1995 schedule ran with a nine-day meet. Sinks brought in renowned turf expert from New York to ready the course for the meet. Rare Reason, trained by Walter Bindner, won the $100,000 Sanford Duncan Stakes. In an earlier race on the card, jockey James Schwartz, who had never ridden at Dueling Grounds, misjudged the finish line, costing his mount the win.
Dueling Grounds again ran into some financial trouble, with Sinks stating that the track did not even make enough money to pay its purses for the 1996 meet. Sinks cited the fact that he had not been able to draw top music acts to the track, which he had put in as part of his plan when he bought the track. As a result, the Commission revoked the license of the track on August 30th, at the same time denying dates for the 1997 meet.
1997 brought about another sale: Turfway Park and Churchill Downs teamed up with three other investors to buy the track for $11 million at auction. Turfway took control of the day to day operations, but the sale did not complete in time for live racing to be conducted during the traditional fall meet. Turfway Park named Roy Erwin as the Dueling Grounds general manager, and Rick Leigh to serve as racing secretary. Leigh already held the same title at Turfway Park. November brought another big change: Dueling Grounds was renamed Kentucky Downs by the new owners in an attempt to rid the track of the images of the past.
Things began to turn around in 1998, when live racing resumed with a seven day schedule, again running in conjunction with Turfway's September meet. The $700,000 Kentucky Cup Festival was created to feature horses that could possibly be on their way to the Breeders' Cup. The Festival consisted of four races: the $300,000 Kentucky Cup Turf, the $200,000 Kentucky Cup Mile, the $100,000 Kentucky Cup Fillies, and the $100,000 Kentucky Cup Dash. Turfway Park also dedicated part of its Web site to the Kentucky Downs Turf Festival. The inaugural meet posted record handle of $6,455,227.
The next year saw another record meet, with patrons across the country betting over $8.3 million on the Kentucky Downs signal, an increase of 13.5%. As in the previous year, Kentucky Downs ran a seven day meet co-mingled with Turfway on the weekends. With a severe summer drought over the region, track officials and horsemen alike were amazed by the condition of the turf course.
The new century marked the return of steeplechase racing, one a Grade Two event, to the 1 5/16 mile Kentucky Downs turf course. Turfway President Bob Elliston announced the event, as well as substantial spending to improve the aesthetics of the grounds. Kentucky riding legend R. A. "Cowboy" Jones, 57, scored another notch in his belt, riding his first winner at the Simpson County track, and his first turf win in Kentucky, also making it his fifth consecutive decade in which he'd won a race.
New general manager Ryan Driscoll announced the 2001 Turf Festival would be run on Sunday, September 23rd, a day after the Kentucky Cup at Turfway. Driscoll cited both tracks' desire to accommodate horsemen that wanted to attend both events. The Kentucky Cup Turf attains Grade III status, the first Kentucky Downs race to be graded.
Kentucky Wildcat basketball legend attends the 2002 meet's opening day, September 15th, to watch his Dixie Watch finish third. The meet's signature event, the Kentucky Cup Turf (GIII), went to Rochester, trained by Hall of Famer Jonathan Sheppard. Business was up across the board for the meet, with all sources handle topping $9.52 million. Jon Court was the leading rider for the second consecutive year, and Tom Amoss topped the trainers' standings.
This September, catch the heart-pounding excitement of live racing at Kentucky Downs. Take in all of the thrilling thoroughbred action as we present our seven day meet from Saturday, September 18 through Tuesday, September 28. Watch, wager and win on September 18, 20, 21, 25, 27, and 28.
Saturday, September 25, join us for the highlight of our fall meet -- the 7th Annual $500,000 Kentucky Cup Turf Festival. Experience a full card of world class racing featuring four major turf stakes. The Turf Festival will run one week after the Kentucky Cup Day of Champions at Turfway Park. Come to both events and you'll see some of the nation's top horses, jockeys and trainers in action.
Just call 270-586-7778 for information and reservations.
Kentucky Downs is located in Franklin, Kentucky near the Kentucky-Tennessee border. Take exit 2 off I-65, then go south on 31W approximately 1 1/2 miles. Kentucky Downs is on the right.