Turfway Park in Kentucky
Located near Erlanger, Kentucky, Turfway Park is a thoroughbred flat racing track which conducts two meets every year and which offers 365-day simulcast coverage of tracks across the country. It hosts a large number of stakes races during the fall and spring and as a result has gained quite a reputation in the racing industry.
The present day track was opened in 1959 under the name of the previous track in the region, the Latonia Race Course. Though the old track had been most successful in its day – hosting the prestigious Latonia Derby which was even more popular than the Kentucky Derby – until the great depression had eventually forced its closure. The new track proved to be just as promising. In 1987 the track’s name was changed to Turfway Park and the track came to host a major Kentucky Derby prep race known as the Spiral Stakes. Today this race has maintained it’s Grade 1 status and it even rivalled the Santa Anita Derby for a while. Other races include the Kentucky Cup Day of Champions, The Kentucky Cup Juvenile Fillies, the Kentucky Cup Sprint, the Kentucky Cup Classic, the Turfway Breeders Cup, the Marfa Stakes and the Turfway Park Fall Championship though it hosts many more races than just those mentioned here.
In 2005 Turfway became the first track in America to install a Polytrack synthetic racing surface. The track reduces freezing in winter and ‘kick back’ of dirt and so aids racing. This has helped to make the track an all-weather track. Turfway is oval in shape and it features an all-enclosed grandstand facility. There is also plenty of stabling for the horses and a number of great restaurants and bars. Live simulcast TVs keep those away from the windows informed as to the races progress and buffets are available on weekends. Turfway Park truly has lived up to it’s reputation.
