Kentucky Downs 2024 Preview: Betting Tips for the Elite All-Turf Meet

The Kentucky Thoroughbred Racetrack will make a short two-week detour to Kentucky Downs late August and early September, so don’t blink or you may miss some of the most lucrative racing in all of North America.

The challenging turf race returns to Kentucky Downs for a seven-day meet at the track that is within shouting distance of the Kentucky-Tennessee border, not far from Nashville. The 2024 Kentucky Downs meet will consist of seven dates – August 29 and 31 and September 1, 5, 7, 8 and 11. Expect big fields on all seven days. Kentucky Downs leads the nation in average attendance based on its 2023 meet, with 10.2 starters per track and 10.7 starters in the sprint.

Kentucky Downs is home to a 1 5/16 mile turf course with a non-oval shape and undulating climbs and descents with slight elevation changes throughout the course and a sweeping turn that leads into a quarter-mile finish line, making Kentucky Downs a unique course in North America.

If you’re traveling in the region, admission to Kentucky Downs is free for the tailgating area and another section at the top of the track. Ticketed areas are located mid-track and up to the finish line and adjacent paddock. Click here for more information.

Kentucky Downs Jockeys and Trainers

Top jockeys and trainers from across the country will regularly attend the Kentucky Downs meet. Based on recent history, including the 2023 meet, the top jockeys should include: Tyler Gaffalione (12 wins in 2023), Joel Rosario (seven wins), Florent Geroux (six wins), Jose Ortiz (five wins) and Irad Ortiz Jr. (four wins). Some of the riders mentioned above will become bigger factors in the second week of Kentucky Downs after Saratoga ends. Other jockeys to watch who have done well in 2023 were Declan Cannon (four wins), Christian Torres (five wins) and Luis Saez.

The best jockeys will compete for horses from the best trainers at the meeting, led by Michael Macherwho has won more Kentucky Downs training titles than anyone else and whose stable had an outstanding performance at the Saratoga meet. However, the leading Kentucky Downs trainer in 2023 was Brendan Walshwho won eight races out of 28 starters, a rate of 29%. Maker was in second place in 2023 with five wins, along with Saffie Joseph Jr.while Jonathan Thomas also had a good meeting with four winners.

Lawn trainers like Graham Movement, Mark Casse, Shug McGaughey, Bill MottAnd Wesley Ward will also be on site with several live contenders. Others that frequently appear in the entries are Brian Lynch, Joe Sharp, Rusty Arnold, Vicki Oliver, Eddie Kenneally, Christophe ClementAnd Phil D’Amato. Chad Brown And Todd Pletcher will win some races, but is more focused on Saratoga. Brad CoxAlways a factor on the Kentucky racetrack, he prepares primarily for Churchill Downs this time of year. Steve Asmussen will have some regular players but generally does not train many grass-court winners at this level.

Huge prize money and numerous stakes races

Why do all these horses and riders show up at Kentucky Downs? Well, it’s the purses, of course. Thanks to revenue from its attached casino, Kentucky Downs leads the nation with average daily purses of over $5 million, based on total competition purses of $37 million (including $15 million from Kentucky stud money).

A large portion of the daily purses at Kentucky Downs are distributed across the extensive program of 18 stakes races, including nine graded stakes. Six races in the short competition offer purses of $2 million or more, including the new Grade 3 DK Horse Nashville Derby Invitational (formerly the Dueling Grounds Derby), which offers a base purse of $1.9 million that could rise to $3.1 million, including purses for Kentucky-bred horses.

The meet will feature two Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series races, with winners receiving automatic, reimbursed starting positions in various Breeders’ Cup races. The Kentucky Downs “Win and You’re In” races at the 2024 meet are the Grade 2 Kentucky Downs Turf Cup Stakes (Longines Breeders’ Cup Turf) on Sept. 7 and the Grade 2 Ainsworth Turf Sprint Stakes (Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint), both on Sept. 7. This day at Kentucky Downs has been dubbed FanDuel TV U.S. Open Turf Championship Day and will consist of 12 races with purses of up to $13 million, which would make it the second-highest-paying racing day of the year in North America behind Breeders’ Cup Saturday.

The overnight prize money structure is also very high at all levels, with special weight races for Kentucky maiden horses carrying $170,000 and allowance races for Kentucky horses carrying $220,000.

Big fields mean big wins

With the large prize money on offer in such a short race, it’s no wonder Kentucky Downs attracts the largest average fields, which is also a plus for horse bettors. Large fields usually mean large payouts, as the two almost always go hand in hand at Kentucky Downs.

The national average favorites are always 30-33%, but at Kentucky Downs, that’s down from 26% last year. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t handicap races at Kentucky Downs, as about 65-70% of races at Kentucky Downs are won by one of the top four favorites. That means smart horse players can have a solid advantage when handicapping Kentucky Downs.

Horses from all over the world fill the races at KD

The best turf horses come from all over the country, including Europe, to race at Kentucky Downs. Where do most Kentucky Downs winners come from? It should come as no surprise to handicappers that most Kentucky Downs winners last ran at Saratoga. The next best source for finding the next Kentucky Downs winners are horses that last ran at Ellis Park, followed by Kentucky horses with longer layoffs that were last seen at Churchill Downs or even Keeneland. Other tracks known to produce the next Kentucky Downs winners include Horseshoe Indianapolis, Delaware Park and Del Mar. The horses arriving from Europe/England are targeting KD more and more each year and are hard to ignore. Kentucky Downs has never really been a haven for winning first-time starters, which is relatively rare at this meet.

The Kentucky Downs season has begun. Don’t miss it!