Churchill Downs will not hold races on its turf track during its September meet after doing work to improve the course.
Darren Rogers, senior director of communications for the Louisville, Ky., track, said vice president of racing Ben Huffman wanted to get the word out to horsemen before the condition book is published, perhaps next week.
“We were hopeful to run in September,” Rogers told Horse Racing Nation on Thursday. “But with the great number of grass opportunities during that three-week time period, before and after at Ellis Park along with Kentucky Downs and Keeneland on the horizon, we felt it was best, let’s go ahead and let it continue the process, stay off it, for that three-week meet. And then we’ll come back having maximum performance for the fall and in the next spring.”
Races on CD turf Spring Sept. Fall Notes
2021101*0*0 *Course under construction
202259**28**Million day in August
2023482317
202474
Rogers explained the work that has gone into the turf course.
“We said all along, in the last winter and spring, our plan was to be a little more vigilant in the management of the organic material on the turf course. We had numerous discussions with the team, consultants, engineers and horsemen, and we’ve done these remedies we introduced in the winter. In the spring, they had us in the right direction. And so we’ve done additional things since the spring meet.
“We scalped the course, which means we cut the grass way down low. The soil’s exposed to sunlight, stimulates growth. There’s this technique known as verticutting, where they kind of knife through the soil, and they remove organic buildup that prevents the roots from growing down. Essentially, it allows the turf to breathe better and absorb more nutrients and moisture. Then we brought out a machine, the Koro recycling dresser. It aerates the underlying soil vertically and horizontally, and it removes soil from the root zone and redistributes it across the surface.
“And then the same thing that we did last March, we did this thing called DryJect. It’s a process where you inject different angular sand, it goes about six inches deep, and it provides stability and eliminates the looseness. And that solution that we put in there, it’s called 15 percent profile, and it enhances the root zone, increases the oxygen levels and nutrient retention. And then the last thing we did was we sprayed about 1,000 bushels of Ironcutter Bermuda grass around the course and then fertilized it.”
The upcoming meet runs Sept. 12-29. The fall meet begins Oct. 30 and runs through Dec. 1.
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Publish date : 2024-07-26 01:18:29
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