{"id":123423,"date":"2025-09-08T18:52:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-08T18:52:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/123423\/"},"modified":"2025-09-08T18:52:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-08T18:52:09","slug":"churchill-downs-september-meet-kicks-off-with-exciting-races","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/123423\/","title":{"rendered":"Churchill Downs&#8217; September Meet kicks off with exciting races"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Churchill Downs opens its 13th September Meet on Thursday with eight races, including a $141,000 allowance sprint.<\/p>\n<p>LOUISVILLE, Ky. \u2014 Horse racing is back at Churchill Downs as it prepares for its 13th September Meet.<\/p>\n<p>The 14-day meet, which begins Thursday and runs through Sept. 28, promises high-caliber racing and vibrant fan experiences.<\/p>\n<p>Thursday\u2019s eight-race card features a competitive field of 89 entries, highlighted by a $141,000 allowance\/optional claiming sprint for fillies and mares. Chris Hartman\u2019s Fibber, a past stakes winner, headlines the race as the mild 4-1 favorite.<\/p>\n<p>Other highlights include a $134,000 turf allowance (Race 5) featuring stakes-placed Depiction and a $120,000 maiden special weight for promising 2-year-old fillies (Race 6).<\/p>\n<p>Churchill Downs will also honor local heroes with First Responders Day on Thursday. Firefighters, police officers, EMTs and more will receive free general admission with valid ID and discounted dining options in Millionaires Row and Skye Terrace.<\/p>\n<p>Here is a line-up of themed days and fan-focused programming throughout the meet:\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Twilight Thursdays (Sept. 11, 18, 25): Enjoy $2 beers, food trucks, live music, and lawn games from 5-8 p.m.College Day (Sept. 13):\u00a0$20,000 in scholarships, VIP paddock tours, and meet-and-greets with Bellarmine basketball players.Senior Day (Sept. 19):\u00a0$45 lunch and racing package for guests 60+ in Millionaires Row.Family Adventure Day (Sept. 21): Kid-friendly entertainment, appearances by Louisville City FC and Racing Louisville FC players, and a \u201cPurple Takeover\u201d theme.Thoroughbred Aftercare Day (Sept. 27): Educational exhibits and meet-and-greets with retired racehorses, including Golden Strike, dam of 2022 Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike.                    <\/p>\n<p>A Tribute to D. Wayne Lukas<\/p>\n<p>Closing weekend will honor legendary trainer D. Wayne Lukas with the $500,000 Lukas Classic (GII) on Sept. 27, a key prep for the $7 million Breeders\u2019 Cup Classic. The card also includes the $400,000 Ack Ack (GIII).<\/p>\n<p>The 89-year-old died in June after battling an illness.<\/p>\n<p>Live racing runs Wednesdays through Sundays, with post times at 12:45 p.m. ET, except for the three Twilight Thursdays.<\/p>\n<p>For full event details, including tickets, visit <a href=\"https:\/\/www.churchilldowns.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">churchilldowns.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p lang=\"EN-US\">\u25baMake it easy to keep up-to-date with more stories like this. Download the WHAS11 News app now. For\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/us\/app\/whas11-news-louisville\/id1453184391?ls=1&amp;mt=8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Apple<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/play.google.com\/store\/apps\/details?id=com.doapps.android.mln.MLN_b3ff766402d6d975200b86a42ea504b0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Android<\/a>\u00a0users.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p lang=\"EN-US\">Have a news tip? Email\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.whas11.com\/article\/sports\/horses\/churchill-downs-september-meet-2025-horse-racing\/mailto:assign@whas11.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">assign@whas11.com<\/a>, or visit our\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/whas11\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Facebook page<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/whas11\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">X feed<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>    <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Churchill Downs opens its 13th September Meet on Thursday with eight races, including a $141,000 allowance sprint. LOUISVILLE,&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":123424,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[3004,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-123423","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-racing","tag-racing","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123423","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=123423"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123423\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/123424"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=123423"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=123423"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=123423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}