Harness racing’s heyday in Louisville was thought to be around 1976-82, when the track saw more than 3,000 fans and more than $200,000 in wagers on most race days, according to an entry in the Encyclopedia of Louisville. William H. King, the track’s first president, bolstered Louisville Downs by bringing in computerized wagering systems, one of the first wagering-by-phone systems in the nation, and live cable television coverage of harness racing. King, along with other investors, purchased all of the track’s stock for $5.1 million in 1986.

As the 1980s came to a close, The Courier Journal reported Louisville Downs was losing money, with around $500,000 lost in 1989. A decline in attendance also harmed the track’s financials, as only an average of about 1,137 went to see a day of harness races in the summer of 1991.

From 1990-91, ownership of the Louisville Downs changed hands twice. First, a group of investors took control of the track for $7 million in 1990. Then, a year later, Churchill Downs Inc. bought Louisville Downs for $6 million in a deal that would effectively end harness racing’s presence in Louisville, the Courier Journal reported.