Churchill Downs, which has completed a massive $121 million renovation, opens
Saturday with the featured $100,000 Derby Trial S. The one-mile event for three-year-olds
is the first of 15 stakes races that will be decided during the opening week,
which culminates with next Saturday’s 131st running of the Kentucky Derby (G1).
The renovation was completed in two stages. Phase One involved the
construction of three levels of suites, meeting and dining rooms, lobbies,
balconies and support facilities above the east portion of the grandstand. Phase
Two, which cost $95 million, began in the summer of 2003 and
involved the razing and reconstruction of part of the west end of the grandstand
and almost the entire clubhouse.
Some of the highlights of the rebuilt clubhouse include Gate 17, the main
entrance, which features a spectacular glass equine sculpture suspended from the
ceiling of a three-story lobby; a 5×36-foot mural by Daily
Racing Form cartoonist Pierre “Peb” Bellocq that caricatures 96 Kentucky
Derby-winning jockeys as well as a new simulcast wagering teletheater on the
Second Floor; the first of two levels of the Turf Club,
the Matt Winn dining area and interior box seats on the Third Floor; “Millionaire’s Row,” as well as the director’s and stakes rooms,
on the Fourth Floor; 15 luxury suites located on or near the finish line on the
Fifth Floor; and the new Joe Hirsch Media Center on the Sixth Floor.
The $500,000 Kentucky Oaks (G1), the filly counterpart to the Kentucky Derby,
will take place on Friday. The card features six stakes events, including the
$300,000 Louisville Breeders’ Cup H. (G2), the $100,000 Crown Royal American
Turf S. (G3) and the $100,000 Aegon Turf Sprint S. (G3).
On the following day, the famed “Run for the Roses,” which now has a
guaranteed $2 million purse, highlights a program that is comprised of the $400,000
Woodford Reserve Turf Classic S. (G1), the $250,000 Humana Distaff S. (G1), the
$200,000 Churchill Downs H. (G2), the $100,000 Distaff Turf Mile
(G3) and the $100,000 Three Chimneys Juvenile S.
The highlight of the post-Derby segment of the 52-day meet will take place on
June 18. That day features the $750,000 Stephen Foster H. (G1), the $300,000
Fleur de Lis H. (G2), the $200,000 Regret S. (G3), the $200,000 Jefferson Cup S.
(G3), the $200,000 Northern Dancer Breeders’ Cup S. (G3) and the $100,000
Opening Verse H.
A pair of two-year-old stakes races — the $100,000 Debutante S. (G3) for
fillies and the $150,000 Bashford Manor S. (G3) — will be run on the final two days
of the meet, July 9 and 10, respectively.