by Terry Cullipher, Kyharnessracing.com

Paducah, KY — Summertime racing. Six months of straight overnight racing without a gap. How does that sound to you?

Last week, Thunder Ridge applied for summer dates in 2008. The meet will open ten days after Bluegrass Downs’ meet closes. Bluegrass will be opening two weeks earlier, on April 10, in 2008. Thunder Ridge will run for eight weeks, ending ten days prior to The Red Mile summer/fall meet.

Thunder Ridge opened in 1994 with summer race dates running consecutive to The Red Mile spring meet. In 2002, the track switched from summer racing to fall racing, following the Grand Circuit meet at The Red Mile.

What does all this mean? It means in 2008, Kentucky will have a raceway circuit that races from April 10, beginning at Bluegrass Downs, and will race continuously through September, ending at The Red Mile.

Calvin Willard, who currently has a small stable of horses, says, “This is the first positive thing, that I have seen, for overnight racing in the state of Kentucky in the last five years. This way makes sense. And you got to have the cents before you can make the dollar. The other way, racing six weeks and then having a two month layover, wasn’t economically feasible.”

April Neafus says, “I will be here to work the summer meet. Personally, I like racing here in the fall. It’s so hot in the summer here. Financially? Racing at Thunder Ridge in the summer will be better for us financially for sure.”

Bill Napier, Executive Secretary for the KHHA, commented about the summer dates. “Well there are both ways. There are some folks that’ll go on and continue a circuit, start at one place and end at another, going straight through the circuit without having any gaps, which is understandable. There are some folks that race at the fairs, that say they won’t get the opportunity to race at Thunder Ridge with their horses that they race on the fair circuit. It just depends on who you ask. There are two sides of the issue, and certainly the side of Thunder Ridge financially, and that’s what it boils down to.”

Napier could not say whether they (KHHA) were in favor of or against summer dates at Thunder Ridge.

Bob Stewart, President of the KHHA, stated by e-mail, “The KHHA has taken the stance that we will support Thunder Ridge in whatever dates they decide to race. We have voiced some concerns about the logistical problems with the change in dates as far as the purse account and conflicting with the fairs, but having said that, we support any racetrack that wants to race Standardbred horses in Kentucky.”

Marc Guilfoil, Deputy Executive Director for the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority gave his thoughts by phone about Thunder Ridge’s summer dates. “From my standpoint, it’s something that should have been done years ago. With the minimal amount of race days that we have in Kentucky, to race six months consecutively beginning April 10 to the end of September, is a ‘no brainer’. I applaud Anita for putting it together and having the fortitude to stick it out, because I know a couple of people have put a lot of pressure on her to keep the fall dates.”

Some have stated that racing in the summer conflicts with fair racing and there will be a shortage of horses because of that. Since Thunder Ridge opened in 1994, it has never had to depend on fair horses to have racing. It has always depended on other types of horses, claimers and overnight horses.

Just to be sure, KyHarnessRacing.com took the first five days of racing for this meet and counted all the entries that were programmed to race, to have an accurate number of how many of them raced on the Kentucky Fair Circuit this year. The number of programmed entries for those five days was 375. Of the 375 programmed to race, only 13 entries programmed in those five days raced on the Kentucky Fair Circuit this year. That is three percent. Actually, only a total of six horses that raced at the fairs are currently racing in overnights at Thunder Ridge.

Some stables may choose not to race at Thunder Ridge in the summer, others may choose to come and race. But there will be trainers ready to enter their horses. Harley Emerson chose not to race at Thunder Ridge this year. He has a 15 horse stable. The entry box doesn’t seem to miss his horses. However, Harley did have this to say about the summer race dates for 2008.

“In my opinion, for whatever it’s worth, since the fair rule has changed, and it’s tougher to buy horses for the fairs, the summer dates will definitely help the horsemen that race in Kentucky.”

Rex Watson, a regular racer in Kentucky, says, “This six or eight weeks in between meets kills everybody. There are only four fairs on the western end of the state. The rest are up this way. Most of the guys that race the fairs don’t race here too much anyway.”

Joe Jayne has both fair horses and overnight horses. “This year I had to ship my horses to every fair and ship my racehorses to Scioto Downs. Next year I can stay right here in Kentucky for six months and ship to the fairs from here (Thunder Ridge). Which I think is good.”

Lendell Coleman says he will race his horses at Thunder Ridge next summer.

Brian Loney raced in Cleveland, Ohio, at Northfield Park from the end of Thunder Ridge’s 2006 meet to the start of the 2007 Red Mile meet. Brian had this to say about Thunder Ridge’s summer dates. “Having a six-month racing circuit, with the meets running consecutively, will be a positive for the horsemen racing in Kentucky. If you run your stable as a business, it’s the smartest way to go. If you don’t really care about making money, then racing six weeks, to shut down your operation for two months, is the way to go. If Thunder Ridge races in the summer, I will have horses there racing.”

Anita Ratliff, General Manager for Thunder Ridge has stated to Bill Napier that she would also like to add another fair date. That would give Thunder Ridge two fairs. Lebanon currently hosts two fairs. The Red Mile also hosts two fairs, Mercer and Woodford counties.