Churchill Downs suspends racing operations to review safety measures
This decision was taken after 12 horses died at the racecourse within the past month.
Churchill Downs will discontinue conducting races at Churchill Downs Racetrack starting on 7 June 2023 until 3 July 2023.
Live racing at Churchill Downs took place as planned on 3 June and 4 June.
But, beginning on 10 June, the remaining races will be held at Ellis Park Racing & Gaming in Henderson, Kentucky.
This comes after the death of 12 horses because of an unusually high incidence of horse injuries at Churchill Downs Racecourse in the past month.
According to an internal review and concurrent investigations carried out by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission (KHRC) and Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA), no factor has been identified as a potential cause and no observable pattern has been detected to link the fatalities.
Now, as a caution and in accordance with a HISA recommendation, CDI has chosen to move the race to carry out a comprehensive evaluation of all safety, surface and integrity protocols, and measures with the collaboration and advice of international experts.
Bill Carstanjen, Churchill Downs Incorporated CEO, said: “What has happened at our track is deeply upsetting and unacceptable.
“Despite our best efforts to identify a cause for the recent horse injuries, we need to take more time to conduct a review of all of the details and circumstances so that we can further strengthen our surface, safety and integrity protocols.”
The Kentucky summer race meet is set to take place at Ellis Park from 7 July through 27 August 2023.
This meeting at Ellis Park will continue with the new safety measures that Churchill Downs made earlier this week in place.
Recently, Churchill Downs and TwinSpires, the official betting partner of the Kentucky Derby, announced that betting from the Kentucky Derby race, the Kentucky Derby Day program and the Kentucky Derby Week races generated the highest handles of all time.
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