One year after hosting the final weeks of the Churchill Downs meet and then posting a successful meeting of its regularly scheduled dates, Ellis Park again has enjoyed a spike in all of the important metrics for its 2024 summer race dates.

Those numbers suggest Kentucky’s efforts to provide a year-round racing circuit are taking shape.

Ellis reports a 20% increase in all-sources handle to $72.7 million for its 25 race days, up $12.2 million from last year’s 24-day meeting. When compared with the 23-day meet of 2022, this year’s handle is up by more than $23 million. That increased wagering interest is in line with increased field sizes as horsemen eye those improving purses fueled by Kentucky’s wildly successful historical horse racing gaming as well as the improved pari-mutuel numbers. 

Field sizes at this year’s meeting were up from 8.0 starters last year to 8.5. Gary Palmisano Jr., vice president of racing for Ellis owner Churchill Downs Inc., said besides the larger fields the track also offered better quality at this meet.

“When you have a nine- or 10-race card and three of the races are good 2-year-old maiden races and two are one-other (allowance) races or something like that, I think it just makes the product more appealing,” Palmisano said. “We also obviously leaned in heavily on the grass course at Ellis, running four or five races a day on it. That certainly didn’t hurt.

“Overall I would say the meet was a tremendous success and it was great to see not only the quantity, but the quality increase.”

Palmisano noted that Ellis Park had some 200 horses ship from their Turfway Park base to compete in races at this summer’s Ellis meeting. CDI owns Turfway as well and has kept that track open for training. That’s nearly one starter a race, as Ellis offered 228 races this summer. 

According to figures from Equineline, Ellis’ paid purses reached $15,458,288, up 8.9% from last year. The average purse at this year’s meet reached $67,800, up from last year’s $65,373. Between the Ellis purses and the shipping options, the Kentucky circuit is providing quality options for horsemen.

“The fact that you can live in the Northern Kentucky region, and have stalls at Turfway, and never have to uproot your family or move around; that’s appealing to horsemen here in the state,” Palmisano said. “The fact that they’re participating in races across the state, whether it be Kentucky Downs, or Churchill, or Ellis, is good.”

For reference, Ellis purses are behind the summer boutique meets. This year’s Del Mar meeting (to date) has had an average purse of $78,808, while Saratoga Race Course checked in at $117,476, but the Henderson, Ky., track is well ahead of the $35,959 average purse at the Gulfstream Park summer meet and the ongoing Hawthorne Race Course meet ($23,121 to date).

CDI-owned Ellis Park and Colonial Downs feature similar average purses of $67,800 at Ellis and $67,951 to date at Colonial, which will offer some big-purse stakes races to close out its meeting Sept. 7.

This year Ellis experimented with shifting its usual three-day race week to include Monday racing—Saturday-Monday. Palmisano said officials will take some time to review the numbers from that change that allowed the track’s signal to own the racing space on Mondays. 

Ellis figures to be in line to see further improvement in its purses—and perhaps an expansion of its three-days-a-week schedule to four days—as a satellite HHR facility tied to the track is scheduled to open in early 2025 in Owensboro, Ky. 

Palmisano and Ellis Park general manager Matt Pressley noted the community interest in racing at Ellis as well as the dedicated staff.

“We are thrilled with the results of this year’s meet, both in terms of record-breaking handle and the outstanding quality of racing,” Pressley said in a release. “We owe our success to the dedication of our staff, horsemen and women, horseplayers, and our local community. Thanks to the continued investments from Churchill Downs Incorporated, Ellis Park is positioned for continued growth and success.”