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Total Wagering On Churchill Downs Spring Meet Sets Record

Total wagering during the 52-day meet that ran from April 27-July 7, which includes all money wagered on-track (including wholecard simulcasting at Churchill Downs) and at simulcast centers throughout North America, reached a record $553,179,503. The total reflects an increase of nearly six percent from the 2001 total of $522,397,791. The daily average for total wagering was $10,638,067 -- an increase of nearly six percent from the 2001 average of $10,046,111.

Included in that number is a record shattering Kentucky Derby Day in which $123,233,111 was wagered on an 11-race card. The Derby Day total reflected an increase of nearly 15 percent from the previous standard of $107,598,904 established in 2001. Wagering on the Derby itself was a record $79,089,887 -- an increase of more than 11 percent from the 2001 record of $71,189,142.

The largest gains in Spring Meet wagering came in off-track wagering, which totaled $461,005,825 -- an increase of more than seven percent from last year's total of $429,506,284. Off-track wagering averaged $8,865,497 per day during the meet, an increase of more than seven percent from the average total wagering of $8,259,736 recorded in 2001.

On-track wagering and attendance totals for the 2002 Spring Meet dropped slightly from the figures recorded in last year's session. On-track wagering for the meet totaled $92,173,678, a decline of less than one percent from last year's total of $92,891,507. Attendance at the track totaled 677,876, down slightly more than four percent from the total attendance of 708,181 in 2001.

Average daily on-track wagering for the meet was $1,772,571, a drop of less than one percent from last year's daily on-track average of $1,786,375. Average daily on-track attendance for the 2002 meet was 13,036, a decline of more than four percent from last spring's figure of 13,619.

"We began this Spring Meet with concerns over new security procedures for the Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks and an uncertain economy, but our final figures after 52 days of racing give us much to be encouraged about," said Alex Waldrop, president of Churchill Downs. "Total wagering continues to grow as fans throughout North America have proven again that they love the brand of racing offered by Churchill Downs. Our loyal fans in Kentucky and throughout the region braved rainy weather in May and above-normal heat in June and supported us strongly on their visits to the track. We appreciate the enthusiasm and support of our fans and the continued support by our horsemen, who have again allowed us to present the highest quality daily racing program in America."

Although off-track wagering on Churchill Downs races increased during the Spring Meet, that wagering decreased in Kentucky's Intertrack Wagering/ Off-Track Betting system. Total ITW/OTB wagering on Churchill Downs races fell to $23,737,829 -- a decrease of more than five percent from the 2001 total of $25,017,579.

Race purses at Churchill Downs remained among the highest in the nation during the Spring Meet and purses paid during the meet totaled $22,751,753 -- an increase of nearly four percent from the 2001 Spring Meet total of $21,931,620. Daily purses averaged $437,533 -- also an increase of almost four percent from the 2001 total of $421,762. Races at the Spring Meet averaged 8.45 starters per race. That average is down slightly from 2001 (8.71), but above the 2000 figure (8.43).

The Spring Meet got off to a spectacular start as The Thoroughbred Corp's War Emblem, a 20-1 shot, led throughout to win the 128th Kentucky Derby by four lengths. It was the third Derby victory for trainer Bob Baffert and the first for jockey Victor Espinoza. War Emblem's win came before a crowd of 145,033, the fifth largest in Kentucky Derby history. Twenty-four hours earlier, Hall of Fame jockey Chris McCarron rallied Farda Amiga -- owned by Old Friends, Inc., Winner Silk, Inc. and Jose de Camargo -- to win the 128th Kentucky Oaks (GI) before 101,923 fans, the third largest crowd in the history of the classic for 3-year-old fillies. The Oaks victory was the third for McCarron and the first for trainer Brazilian-born trainer Paulo Lobo.

The stakes competition in the 128th Spring Meet may have been the strongest in Churchill Downs history and one of the brightest of those stakes stars was Godolphin's Street Cry. The Saeed bin Suroor-trained winner of the Dubai World Cup (GI) scored a record 6 1/2-length victory in the 21st running of the $750,000-added Stephen Foster Handicap, which was run as a Grade I event for the first time.

The Thoroughbred Corp's 5-year-old mare Spain won the $250,000-added Louisville Breeders' Cup (GII) to become racing's all-time leading female money-earner, then the D. Wayne Lukas-trained daughter of 1995 Kentucky Derby winner Thunder Gulch returned to win the $300,000-added Fleur de Lis Handicap (GII). She won the latter while in foal to the top sire Storm Cat. Juddmonte Farm's homebred Beat Hollow made a convincing case that he was the nation's finest turf horse with a victory in the Grade I Woodford Reserve Turf Classic (GI) for trainer Bobby Frankel.

Vinery Stable's Celtic Melody benefited from the disqualification of Gold Mover to win the Humana Distaff, which was run for the first time as a Grade I stakes race. Flaxman Holdings' Good Journey established himself as a major contender for the Breeders' Cup Mile (GI) with an authoritative win in the $250,000-added Firecracker Breeders' Cup (GII). Other stakes stars included Robert and Beverly Lewis' Orientate, who set a stakes record in winning the Aristides Handicap (GIII); Peter Vegso's Orchard Park, an impressive winner in the Jefferson Cup (GIII) for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott; Sky Terrace, who won the Derby Trial (GIII) for trainer and co-owner Vickie Foley and her more than 200 partners; James Routsong's Megans Bluff, whose win in the Early Times Mint Julep (GIII) marked the third consecutive year in which she won a stakes race at Churchill Downs; Green Hills Farm's Voodoo Dancer, a dominating winner in the Locust Grove Handicap (GIII); William Clifton's Legislator, winner of the Crown Royal American Turf (GIII); Fog City Stable's D'Wildcat, who won the Churchill Downs Handicap (GII) via the disqualification of Snow Ridge; Michael Moran's McDynamo, winner of the $100,000-added Hard Scuffle Steeplechase; and Team Valor's Cashier's Dream won the La Troienne (GIII), the final race for the 4-year-old filly who would later die of complications from intestinal surgery.

Future stars turned in impressive victories in stakes events for 2-year-olds as the filly Holiday Runner defeated males in the Three Chimneys Juvenile; Heiligbrodt Racing's Posse won the Kentucky Breeders' Cup (GIII), Tom Durant's Awesome Humor took the Debutante (GIII), and Walter New's Lone Star Sky won the Bashford Manor (GIII).

Hall of Fame jockey Pat Day earned a record 32nd riding title at Churchill Downs as he won the Spring Meet crown for the 15th time. Day rode 72 winners from 245 races for a winning percentage of 29.3 percent. Oddly, only one of Day's victories came in stakes competition: a win by Flaxman Holdings' Good Journey in the Firecracker Breeders' Cup (GII) on July 4. Day, the all-time leading jockey at Churchill Downs, completed the Spring Meet with 2,239 wins and a record 141 stakes victories at the track.

The race for leading trainer came down to the last race on the final day of the meet for the second consecutive year and it ended in a 23-23 tie between Dale Romans and Tom Amoss. Romans took the lead early in the day, but Amoss pulled back into a tie with a dramatic win by Lone Star Sky in the Bashford Manor. Amoss' favored Miss Lodi was leading in the stretch in the day's final race, but gave way in the final yards to finish second. It was the third consecutive training crown for Romans, a feat last achieved by Elliott Walden (1997-99). Romans has finished in a tie for each of his titles. The training title was the first at Churchill Downs for Amoss.

Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas won five stakes races during the meet, which tied his own record for stakes victories in a non-Spring/Summer meet. He lost a sixth stakes victory when Overbrook Farm's Snow Ridge was disqualified and placed second in the Churchill Downs Handicap. Lukas now has 62 career stakes wins at Churchill Downs and ranks second to Bill Mott (65) on the all-time list.

Kenneth and Sarah Ramsey earned honors as leading owner for the third consecutive Spring Meet and a record fifth consecutive meet overall as horses carrying their red-and-white colors scored 19 victories. The Ramseys' victory total tied the record for most wins in a non-Spring/Summer meet.

Churchill Downs, the world's most legendary racetrack, has conducted Thoroughbred racing and presented America's greatest race, the Kentucky Derby, continuously since 1875. Located in Louisville, the flagship racetrack of Churchill Downs Incorporated (Nasdaq: CHDN) also operates Trackside Louisville, an off-track betting facility. Churchill Downs will conduct the 129th running of the Kentucky Derby on May 3, 2003. The track has served as host to the Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships a record five times. The 2002 Fall Meet at Churchill Downs is scheduled for Oct. 27-Nov. 30.

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