Training Resumes at Churchill Downs After Aug. 4 Flood at the Home of the Kentucky Derby

Aug 06, 2009 By John Asher

Horses returend to the historic one-mile main track at Churchill Downs on Thursday, Aug. 6 for the first time since flood waters swept over the surface nearly 48 hours earlier.

 The track was 'fast' as Thoroughbreds went through their morning exercise on a foggy morning.  Training was interrupted by the storm midway through the regular four-hour session.  There was no training on Wednesday as Track Superintendent Butch Lehr and his crew repaired washouts and other damage inflicted by Tuesday's flooding.

 The flood prompted the evacuation of more than 40 horses from three barns in the track's stable area as floodwaters rose two-to-three feet in those structures.  Twenty-two horses were moved to the nearby Trackside training center, while others were housed temporarily in empty stalls in other barns in the stable area.