Churchill Downs opens doors on 125th fall meet

Cooler temperatures and the leaves changing colors signify

the return of live horse racing to the Louisville, Kentucky, area as

Churchill Downs, the

historic home of the Kentucky Derby, readies to open its 125th fall meet on

Sunday.

The popular 26-day stand, which covers a five-week stretch

through November 30, kicks off in style Sunday with the 10th annual "Stars

of Tomorrow I" program, which is entirely devoted to hopeful two-year-old stars

who have aspirations of trail-blazing their way to next year's

Kentucky Derby and

Kentucky Oaks.

The 11-race opening day program is headlined by a pair of

one-mile $58,000 overnight stakes -- the Street Sense and Rags to Riches for fillies. Both

races serve as local steppingstones to the Kentucky Jockey Club and Golden Rod

for fillies, a pair of $200,000, 1 1/16-mile contests scheduled for the "Stars of Tomorrow II"

program on November 29. The Kentucky Jockey Club and Golden Rod are part of the Road to

the Kentucky Derby and Oaks series which award points to the top four finishers.

The successful Stars of Tomorrow events have helped

launch the careers of numerous graded winners, including 33 Grade 1

winners and 19 millionaires led by 2010 Kentucky Derby victor Super Saver; 2011

Preakness and 2012 Met Mile and Clark Handicap winner Shackleford; 2009 Horse of

the Year Rachel Alexandra; 2012 Breeders' Cup Classic and 2013 Stephen Foster

Handicap hero Fort Larned; 2012 Kentucky Oaks vixen Believe You Can; and 2013

champion three-year-old male Will Take Charge.

Last year's renewals included future stakes stars such as Grade 2 winners

Tapiture, Stonetastic and Tiz Windy; Grade 3 scorers Albano and Southenr Honey;

Kentucky Derby runner-up Commanding Curve; Preakness second Ride On Curlin;

Grade 1-placed stakes winners General a Rod and Unbridled Forever.

First post Sunday, as is the case for most of the meeting,

is 12:40 p.m. (ET). The National Weather Service forecast for

Louisville calls for ideal fall conditions on Sunday, sunny skies with a high

near 68.

There's a special treat for the kids, too, on Sunday as

track mascot "Churchill Charlie" will lead a Halloween "Trick or Treat" Costume

Parade around the facility starting at Gate 17 at 2:30 p.m.

Over the course of the meet, horsemen will have ample

opportunities to uncork promising juveniles or seek year-end graded glory. All told, 13 stakes races cumulatively worth $2.032 million

-- which

includes a quartet of overnight stakes -- will be run during the fall stand.

Meanwhile, bettors are certain to be challenged by the competitive fall meet

racing that typically pits the fastest and battle-tested horses against the

recently freshened year-end bloomers.

With a compact 26-day schedule and not as many competing

race meets at year's end, the fall meet traditionally offers larger fields. Last

fall, the average field size was 8.84 horses per race compared to the 7.29 and

7.70 at this year's spring and September meets, respectively.

The anchor of the lucrative stakes program comes on "Black

Friday," November 28, with the 140th running of the Grade 1, $500,000 Clark Handicap. The 1 1/8-mile test for

three-year-olds

and up annually lures some of the top older horses in North America and is one

of five stakes events to be contested over Thanksgiving weekend.

After Sunday's opener, live racing will be conducted on a

Wednesday through Sunday schedule with dark days on Mondays and Tuesdays. Most race days

will begin at 12:40 p.m. and feature 10 live races. Eleven-race programs are

scheduled for opening day and November 14. Twelve-race cards are scheduled

for November 27-29.

Churchill Downs will have special post times for October 31 (Halloween) and November 1 so the races coincide, but don't overlap,

with a simulcast of the Breeders' Cup World Championships from Santa Anita Park. The

October 31 card will begin at 2 p.m. while the November 1 action

will commence at 2:15 p.m. All Breeders' Cup races will be shown between

live races on Churchill Downs' Big Board, the world's largest 4K ultra-high

definition video board, and $2 Bud/Bud Light and $3 Stella Artois drink specials

will be offered throughout most of the facility on both days.

The November 14 program is "Downs After Dark" -- the lone night racing

program of the fall meet with a first post of 4:30 p.m. and nod to James Bond

films.

The only other special post time is an 11:30 a.m. early

start for Thanksgiving Day at Churchill Downs -- a Louisville tradition since

1969 where more than 7,000 turkey dinners are served with all the trimmings,

making it the largest number anywhere in the region.

Other special events throughout the fall meet include

Pigskins and Ponies every Saturday (except November 1) in the Plaza with college

football games on the Plaza video board, drink specials ($2 Bud/Bud Light, $3

Stella Artois and $1 Pepsi products and bottled water) and tailgate-style food

from the Plaza Grill. Churchill Downs will offer free admission to college

students every Saturday with a current student I.D.

Family Adventure Day, which was a hit

for families during the spring and September meets, returns November 9 with

plenty of games and activities for children while the adults enjoy an exciting

day of horse racing.

The "Who's the Champ? Betting Challenge" returns for the

final three Sundays of the fall meet (November 16, 23 and 30) with lucrative prizes

being awarded to the top three entrants with the most profitable $2 win/place

mythical wagers on the 3RD-8TH races. The challenge is $35 to enter ($30 for TSC Elite

members).

Lastly, Churchill Downs will conclude its meet on November 30 with Fan

Appreciation Day featuring $1 draft Bud/Bud Light, $1 22-ounce Pepsi products,

$1 bottled water and $1 hot dogs. Also, the first 5,000 fans through admission

gates will receive a voucher that can be redeemed for a free 2015 calendar that

features classic Churchill Downs and Kentucky Derby imagery.

Jockey Julien Leparoux could enter the fall meet with a

chance to collect his 2,000th career win (he began Thursday's action at

Keeneland with 1,995 victories). Also, Robby Albarado is just five wins shy of

becoming only the third rider to win 1,000 races at Churchill Downs. He has 995

local wins and only trails Pat Day (2,482) and Calvin Borel (1,167) in the

all-time standings.

Meanwhile, record-breaking owners Ken and Sarah Ramsey, who

collected their 22nd Churchill Downs leading owners' title in September, are two

wins away from their 400th local victory.

The defending fall meet champs are jockey Corey Lanerie (36

wins), trainer Mike Maker (16) and the Ramseys (18).

Larry Collmus will describe action in what will be his

final meet as track announcer at Churchill Downs (in addition to being the voice

of Gulfstream Park's winter meet he'll be the NYRA announcer starting in April

2015). While Collmus is attending to Breeders' Cup duties for NBC, Mike

Battaglia, the voice of Churchill Downs from 1978-96, will substitute October 29

through November 2.

General admission to Churchill Downs is $3 ($1 for senior

citizens age 60 and up; $10 for Downs After Dark). Children 12 and under are

admitted free when accompanied by an adult. Parking is free in the Longfield

Avenue lot (Gates 10 & 12) and $3 in all other lots. Valet parking is $5.

Free seating is available daily on a first-come,

first-serve basis in sections 113-118. Premium reserved seats in the Matt Winn

Dining Room, Third Floor Box Seats, Millionaires Row, Jockey Club Suites, Finish

Line Suites and Skye Terrace may be purchased online at

ChurchillDowns.com/Tickets, in person at the Gate 1 box office (open most race

days from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.) or by calling 502-636-4400.

For more information, call 502-636-4400 or visit

churchilldowns.com.

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