Churchill Downs will suspend racing operations on Wednesday and move the remainder of its spring meet to Ellis Park to conduct a “top-to-bottom” review of safety and surface protocols in the wake of 12 horse fatalities the past month at the home of the Kentucky Derby.
A release stated that no single factor has been identified as a potential cause for the fatalities or pattern detected, but it decided to relocate the meet “in an abundance of caution.”
“What has happened at our track is deeply upsetting and absolutely unacceptable," Churchill Downs Inc. CEO Bill Carstanjen said in Friday's release. "We need to take more time to conduct a top-to-bottom review of all of the details and circumstances so that we can further strengthen our surface, safety and integrity protocols.”
Racing will continue at Churchill Downs through Sunday before shifting to the CDI-owned racing and gaming facility in Henderson, Kentucky. Ellis Park's meet was scheduled to start July 7, four days after the scheduled close at Churchill Downs, and run through Aug. 27 but will now expand with Friday's announcement.
Ellis Park will resume racing on June 10.
The move comes a day after track superintendent Dennis Moore conducted a second independent analysis of Churchill Downs’ racing and training
surfaces as part of an emergency summit called this week by the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) with the track and the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission. Meetings took place in Lexington, Kentucky, and at the Louisville track.