Tagged: Churchill Downs

Churchill Downs has been given the go-ahead to offer a third racing meet starting next year.

The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission voted Tuesday to give the track a third live racing meet in September.

The schedule will be added to Churchill's traditional spring and fall meets.

The 12 additional dates will be Churchill's first all-September meet since 1890. The dates have traditionally gone to Turfway Park in northern Kentucky.

The final three days live racing for the Churchill Downs spring meet will be held Friday through Sunday, but under a revised schedule.

High temperatures around the 100 degree mark forced Churchill Downs to cancel its Thursday racing card.   Spokesman Darren Rogers says it was just the 18th time in the track’s long history that the races were called off.

"All of those (were) weather-related in some fashion, but that is the first time we’ve ever had to cancel due to extreme heat," he said.

A heat wave that will linger over the region for the next several days will produce high temperatures in the triple digits.

That has health officials cautioning those who have to be outside to consume plenty of liquids and avoid overexertion.

University of Louisville Hospital emergency department physician Laura Tudor says low humidity levels will make coping with the heat a bit easier.