Thursday, July 08, 2010

It's A Sign Of The Times

So sang Petula Clark in the 1960s, and so sings another horse racing program slashed by the ferocity of the current economic climate. Turfway Park has announced that they will be eliminating the 2010 Kentucky Cup from their fall schedule due to "continuing financial duress" at that particular racetrack.

The Kentucky Cup has been a tremendous program for the racetrack and was certainly something that handicappers were able to use to scout out possible horses to look for in the Breeders' Cup that would eventually follow. The single standout one for me was a horse named Reraise, who absolutely bludgeoned the field in the Kentucky Cup Sprint in 1998. He then returned to do it once again to the field in Breeders' Cup at Churchill Downs several weeks later. Many other champion runners also participated in the Kentucky Cup over the years, including 1997 Kentucky Derby winner, Silver Charm.

The elimination of the Kentucky Cup was just one of many slashes to the fall season that Turfway Park had to make for their fall season. They will not conduct racing on Wednesday and they will only have one stakes race on the schedule for the entire meeting. One can only hope that the news out of the Bluegrass will be improving sometime soon.

Tune in tomorrow for more from They Are Off. For right now, I am Gone... GOODBYE!

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