It’s year 143 for Lexington’s historic Red Mile harness race track.
A leader in the horsemen’s organization sees continued growth in purses and race dates.
Kentucky Harness Horsemen’s Association Director Gabe Pruitt says horses from Paducah, Chicago, Cleveland, and Maine came to Lexington this week for the start of 8 weeks of racing.
Pruitt, who also serves as track announcer, says the historic track off South Broadway carries a global reputation.
“It’s actually the fastest Standardbred track in the world, for that matter. The red clay here, the fastest mile, they always race a mile, the fastest mile of all time was raced here last fall by a horse named “Always B Miki,” said Pruitt.
Pruitt says the state’s mare residency program, which produced 250 horses in the crop of two year olds, is benefiting the industry.
He says factors such as casinos in other states, to online gambling affected harness race wagering in past years.
“The industry was on the borderline of collapse here in the state of Kentucky,” explained Pruitt. “So, we have had to crawl and we hope we’re starting to walk a bit now and eventually we’ll really get this thing rolling at a high rate.”
With the advent of the 900 instant racing electronic gambling terminals downstairs at Red Mile, Pruitt says the racing purse account doubled in 2015. He says racing dates, once at 22 nights, will go to 38 next year.
