Churchill Downs announced June 11 the suspension of turf racing for at least two weeks.
The track's new course, unveiled in late April after being laid down with sod in October, initially received positive reviews from riders and horsemen but has not been able to sustain planned usage. Horses at times have bobbled while racing on it, and wear and tear in the course became noticeable. The course is not as lush as in early spring after Churchill began cutting the grass shorter in an effort to promote root growth.
Saturday's announcement comes a day after Gingrich suffered a catastrophic injury in the second race at Churchill Downs, a $50,000 claiming race on the turf, when leading and appearing on his way to victory in midstretch. The Silverton Hill Farm-owned and Brian Lynch-trained Mr. Speaker colt "went wrong," was pulled up by jockey James Graham, and was vanned off in the horse ambulance, according to the Equibase chart. Lynch confirmed Saturday that Gingrich was euthanized due to a compound fracture, saying the horse was sound and in good condition going into the race.
Lynch said he agreed with Churchill's decision to suspend grass racing.
"You hate to jeopardize any more horses if it is something that just needs to back off and give the turf course to get a root system in for the summer," Lynch said. "We don't need to watch what happened yesterday happen again."
Even before the suspension of turf racing, Churchill had been forced to reduce the use of the course, announcing last week that it would scale back from three grass races to two grass races per day from Saturday until the closing day of its spring meet, July 4.
Churchill Downs experienced problems with its prior turf course during its cooler fall meets, leading to a suspension of grass racing in the fall of 2020. Following the 2021 spring meet, Churchill invested $10 million in a new course that widened the surface with four running lanes, designed for increased durability through use of a different grass mixture of Tahoma 31 Bermudagrass overseeded with ryegrass. A new irrigation system also was introduced.
"In order to allow our new turf course to continue to develop its root system, we have suspended turf racing for the next two weeks," Churchill Downs president Mike Anderson said in a release. "The new Bermuda-hybrid grass was installed last fall and will continue to mature during the very warm days and weeks ahead. We've made a long-term investment in our turf course, and we're confident this brief pause will allow it to become more robust."
The suspension of turf racing led to numerous scratches on Saturday's card from an allowance optional claiming race and the Mighty Beau Overnight Stakes.
The next major stakes races on turf at Churchill Downs this spring are scheduled July 2 with the $200,000 American Derby, the $200,000 Tepin Stakes, and the $350,000 Wise Dan Stakes (G2T) falling on Stephen Foster Day.
Following the spring meet, Churchill also has one day of racing scheduled this summer on Aug. 13, hosting the Arlington Million (G1T), Beverly D. (G1T), Pucker Up Stakes (G3T), and Secretariat Stakes (G2T). Those races were previously run at Arlington International Racecourse, which ceased racing after track owner Churchill Downs Inc. reached a purchase and sales agreement last year to sell the property to the Chicago Bears of the National Football League.
Churchill picked up the summer race date from Ellis Park, which runs the bulk of the summer in Kentucky.
Later in the year, Churchill Downs has a September and fall race meet.
