New Track Debuts At Keeneland

"Watch about five or six horses run and lose a little bit of money,” said fan Lee Richardson. “[Then] go back and get ready for the football game tomorrow night."

There will always be the ‘normal’ traditions at Keeneland. But for this meet, there is something new.

"For the first time being on it,” jockey Calvin Borel said. “I loved it."

Over the summer Keeneland replaced its main track from a man-made synthetic polytrack surface, of sand, fiber and rubber, to a dirt surface.

Why? Keeneland says the new track attracts a wider range of horses and more triple-crown contenders.

"Oh, I came up here and I’m real excited,” Richardson said.

“A good track like this is almost like Churchill,” Borel said. “You feel what you have under you and that’s a good feeling."

And with all that rain today, the brand new track also got to show off another feature. The track has a one-of-a-kind drainage system, designed to collect and discharge water away from the track.

"It did great this morning, Jim Pendergest, General Manager of The Thoroughbred Center said. “It looks good today."

"This is going to be great for the future of racing," Pendergest said.

The fall meet runs through October 25th.

Saturday’s Keeneland card will be highlighted by the first one-million dollar race in the track’s history, The Shadwell Turf Mile.