Churchill Downs received approval Aug. 10 to offer the Breeders’ Cup Jockey Bet as part of this year’s World Championships Nov. 5-6 at the Louisville racetrack.
Churchill also got the OK from the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission to add a day of racing to its fall meet.
Breeders’ Cup offered the jockey wager last year at Santa Anita Park, the first time in California. The win-only bet requires players to select the jockey that wins the most Breeders’ Cup races over the two days of the event.
Handle on the wager in 2009 was about $117,000, said Ken Kirchner, a Breeders’ Cup consultant.
The KHRC agreed to allow Churchill to add Sunday, Nov. 28, as a live racing day. The track was scheduled to close Nov. 27, the Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend.
In years past Turfway Park would have opened that Sunday, but the track has been trimming days from its meets to conserve purse money and horses. Turfway already was scheduled to open Thursday, Dec. 4.
KHRC general counsel Susan Speckert said the two Breeders’ Cup days were part of Churchill’s 2010 request for dates. On those two days, there will be no overnight races, so the track wanted to add a program later in the meet.
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