Turfway Park
 |
|
| Location |
Boone County, near Florence, Kentucky 
|
|---|---|
| Owned by |
Jack Entertainment Keeneland Association |
| Date opened | 1959 |
| Course type | Flat/Thoroughbred |
| Notable races |
Spiral Stakes (G3) Bourbonette Oaks (G3) |
| Official website | |
Turfway Park is an American horse racing track located just outside the city limits to the north of Florence, Kentucky, about 10 miles (16 km) south of the Ohio River at Cincinnati. The track conducts live Thoroughbred horse racing during two meets each year—Holiday (December), and Winter/Spring (January to late March/early April)—and offers year-round simulcast wagering from tracks across the continent.
In 2009, the Horseplayers Association of North America introduced a rating system for (currently) 62 Thoroughbred racetracks in North America. In 2016, Turfway was ranked #11.
Turfway Park opened in Florence, Kentucky, in 1959 as Latonia Race Course. The track is located about 10 miles south of the original Latonia in Covington, Kentucky, which hosted Thoroughbred racing from 1883 until it was torn down in 1939. The original Latonia was home to the important Latonia Derby, which rivaled the Kentucky Derby in prestige for many years and shared many of the same horses. The Florence track's name was changed to Turfway Park when Jerry Carroll and his partners purchased the facility in 1986.
In 1999, Carroll sold the track in equal parts to lottery equipment manufacturer Gtech, gaming conglomerate Harrah's Entertainment, and the non-profit Keeneland Association, which operates the Lexington, Kentucky, race track and Thoroughbred auction facility. In 2005, Gtech sold its interests to the other partners, leaving Keeneland and Harrah's with 50-50 interests.
Turfway is home to the JACK Cincinnati Casino Spiral Stakes, established by then-general manager John Battaglia in 1972 as the Spiral Stakes. Battaglia envisioned a race from which 3-year-olds would "spiral up" to the Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland and then to the Kentucky Derby. The race was sponsored from 1982 through 1998 by Jim Beam Distillers, and for one year (1999) by GalleryFurniture.com. Lane's End Farm, one of the world's leading Thoroughbred breeding and sales operations, sponsored the race from 2002 through 2010. Horse farm giant Vinery Stables sponsored the Spiral in 2011 and 2012 and by Horseshoe Casino Cincinnati from 2013 through 2016. JACK Cincinnati Casino took over sponsorship in 2017. The race attained Grade II status in 1988 but was downgraded to Grade III in 2011.
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