I lived in Ohio for 22 years and if you enjoy thoroughbred racing it’s a bit like purgatory. While there is racing at Belterra Park (formerly River Downs) in Cincinnati and racing at Thistledown Racetrack in Cleveland, it’s mostly lower level claiming races.
If you wanted to see quality racing it required planning a road trip to Kentucky to attend the races at Keeneland Race Course or Churchill Downs. Somewhere between the quality racing at these two venues and Ohio racing was Turfway Park, a Northern Kentucky track located a few miles over the border from Cincinnati. From my home in Dayton it was about an hour’s drive. Unfortunately, Turfway Park is mostly Winter Racing so watching the races at the rail was only for the foolish or hardy!
Every Sunday two of my neighbors (Conrad Perry and John Spelker) would make the trip to Turfway Park and I would join them a couple of times a month. At our table in the Clubhouse we would enjoy the afternoon of live racing and simulcasting from Gulfstream Park in Florida.
Turfway Park has gone through several ownership changes and is now owned by Churchill Downs. The facility we previously watched the races from is being torn down and a new facility is being constructed. When completed, it will be a nice compliment to the other tracks on the Kentucky Racing circuit (Keeneland, Churchill Downs, Ellis Park and Kentucky Downs). As a result of Churchill’s ownership the purses at Turfway Park have increased substantially as well.
The biggest day of racing at Turfway Park is Jeff Ruby Stakes Day in March. Like the ownership of Turfway Park, the Jeff Ruby Stakes has had numerous sponsors throughout the years. At one time it was sponsored by Jim Beam (the distiller) and later, a Houston based furniture store who named the race the Galleryfurniture.com Stakes. Several stakes races are run on “Ruby Day” and the Jeff Ruby Stakes Winner qualifies for the Kentucky Derby.
We (Woodford Racing) had a horse run in the first race on “Ruby Day” this year. While it was not a stakes race, it was fun to watch the race. Our horse (Bajan Rum) was making the second start of his career and his first start since racing at Saratoga Racetrack last Summer. Bajan Rum had been training well up to the race but it’s difficult to win off a seven month layoff. As the starting gate opened, Bajan Rum was hustled to the lead by his jockey Frank Reyes. Reyes confidently looked behind him four times during the race to see if any challengers were closing in. In the end he confidently rode Bajan Rum to a half length victory!
I wasn’t at Turfway Park for Bajan Rum’s winning effort but it brought back fond memories of making the drive every other Sunday with my neighbors many years ago.