A challenging Spring Meet came to a close Sunday at Churchill Downs. The track had difficulty getting enough horses to fill race cards, prompting the world's most legendary racetrack to cut seven entire race dates from the original meet calendar. The track's general manager acknowledges the struggles, yet says Derby week was fantastic. But, the struggles to compete with growing purses in states with slot machines are certain to continue, especially with the recent defeat of the slots bill in the Kentucky Senate. "We're down some, no question, we wouldn't have had to cut race dates if weren't down. We've been down a decent amount but the night racing certainly helping, something we can build on, looking forward to building hopefully in the future," said Jim Gates, GM of Churchill Downs. Over three nights, nearly 90,000 people attended the first ever night races at Churchill. Gates says they hope to bring back "Downs after Dark" if not this fall, then next spring. He expects that decision by the board of directors in the near future.
