Churchill Downs announced Nov. 19 that its suspension of turf racing would continue through the end of its fall meet that concludes Nov. 29, necessitating the cancellation of the Cardinal Stakes (G3T) and River City Stakes (G3T) next week. Grass racing will resume in the spring, the track wrote in a statement on its Nov. 22 overnight.
Besides the two canceled stakes, races in its final condition book scheduled for turf will be run on dirt provided they attract sufficient entries to fill.
The Churchill turf course was rated as good when last used Nov. 12. That day, Winning Impression, a 3-year-old gelding who was 12th in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1), took a bad step near the finish of an allowance race on grass. The Dallas Stewart trainee, owned by West Point Thoroughbreds and Pearl Racing, broke a sesamoid and was euthanized.
According to Darren Rogers, the track's senior director of communications and media services, dry weather in September led the course's root system to not take hold as much as desired.
The course has experienced occasional problems in recent years, most evident during the fall when cooler weather leaves the course retaining moisture and racing creates more divots.
Even before Thursday's announcement, Churchill had paused racing on its turf course for a week.
The track ran 14 races on its grass course this meet. Last fall it ran 26.
