Twilight Thursday, Still-Growing Single 6 Jackpot Launch June Racing, Second Half of Spring Meet

Jun 01, 2016 Coady Photography John Asher

Churchill Downs Racetrack’s 38-day Spring Meet enters both its second half and the month of June with a Twilight Thursday program on June 2 that features live music and food trucks, along with providing racing fans with another shot at the track’s Single 6 Jackpot wager and its carryover pool that has grown to $471,578.

The four-day, Thursday-through-Sunday racing week also features a Saturday race card with a pair of co-featured stakes events and a Sunday program that provides opportunities for fans to enjoy the new Stakes and Eggs Brunch in the Stakes Room, and earn prize money while displaying their handicapping prowess in the weekly “Who’s the Champ?” Handicapping Contest.

The popular Twilight Thursday celebration gets the week rolling on the 20^th of 38 Spring Meet racing sessions. Thursday’s event features many of the region’s finest food trucks and live music on The Plaza, along with eight live races. Scheduled post time for the first Twilight Thursday race is 5 p.m. (all times EDT).

The Mauriece Hamilton Quintet will provide the music on the Plaza Stage and this week’s roster of popular food trucks that will be parked on the Plaza includes ¡Holy Molé!, Longshot Lobsta, Mark’s Feed Store, Red Top Gourmet Hot Dogs and Zoom Zoom Yum. Activities on The Plaza start with the opening of the track’s admission gates at 4 p.m.

There was no individual winner of the Single 6 Jackpot on Monday’s Memorial Day program, so the carryover pool for the 20-cent minimum bet climbed to $471,578 heading into its 14^th day on Thursday. The Single 6 will pay its entire pool only if there is a single winning ticket, but 90 percent of each day’s betting pool is returned to bettors when there is no individual winner. The remaining 10 percent then goes into the Single 6 carryover pool.

Thursday’s Single 6 Jackpot sequence begins with the third race at 5:58 p.m.

General admission to Twilight Thursday and most Churchill Downs Spring Meet racing programs is $3, with reserved seats starting at $10. Post time for this week’s Friday-through-Sunday racing is 12:45 p.m. with admission gates set to open at 11:30 a.m.

The Friday, June 3 racing program features 10 races, and Saturday’s 11-race card is headed by the 28^th running of the $100,000 Aristides (Grade III). The six-furlong race on the main track for 3-year-olds and up shares the spotlight with the debut of the $67,000-added Mighty Beau Overnight Stakes, a contest for 3-year-olds and up at five furlongs on the Matt Winn Turf Course.

The Churchill Downs racing program on Sunday, June 5 includes the return of the “Who’s the Champ?” Handicapping Contest in the track’s ITW on the Clubhouse second floor at the top of the Gate 17 escalators. Registration is scheduled from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and the contest based on mythical $2 wagers will focus on Races 3-8. The “Who’s the Champ?” first prize is a $1,000 cash voucher, with a $500 voucher going to the runner-up and $200 to the contest’s third-place finisher.

The entry fee for the “Who’s the Champ?” Contest is $35 or just $30 for TSC Elite members.

Sunday racing programs during the Spring Meet also provide an opportunity for fans to enjoy the Stakes and Eggs Brunch and live racing in the renovated Stakes Room on the 4^th Floor of the Clubhouse. The sumptuous brunch and your Sunday at the races is available for $45 for adults and $22 for children 12 & under.

The Stakes and Eggs Brunch begins each Sunday with the opening of the Churchill Downs admission gates at 11:30 a.m. Tickets are available online at www.ChurchillDowns.com/Tickets or by calling (502) 636-4450.