Churchill Downs Racecourse is set in 147 acres on Central Avenue in Louisville, Kentucky. Churchill Downs staged its first meeting in 1875 and has been the home of the Kentucky Derby, nowadays run over a mile and a quarter on the first Saturday in May each year, ever since. The racecourse underwent an extensive modernisation project between 2002 and 2005 and, today, plays host to 72 days of racing a year during its spring and fall meetings.

Course Characteristics

The main track at Churchill Downs is a left-handed, dirt oval, one mile in circumference with 4% banking on the turns and a home straight less than two furlongs long. The Matt Win turf track, named after a former president of Churchill Downs, runs inside the main track and is seven furlongs in circumference with slightly steeper 6% banking on the turns.

Track Facts

The original grandstand at Churchill Downs, featuring the iconic Twin Spires, was completed in 1895.

Churchill Downs has hosted the Breeders’ Cup World Championships eight times, most recently in 2011.

The Kentucky Derby is known as “The Run for the Roses” or “The Greatest Two Minutes in Sports”.

The Kentucky Derby remains the longest continuously held sporting event in the United States.

For the first 21 years of its existence, the Kentucky Derby was run over a mile and a half.

The Mint Julep, an iced drink consisting of bourbon, mint and sugar syrup is the traditional beverage of the Kentucky Derby.

Chantilly Racecourse, or in French, Hippodrome de Chantilly, is set in 65 acres in the Oise department of northern France, a little over 30 miles from Paris. The first race meeting at the course, built at the foot of the imposing Great Stables, was held on May 15, 1834, but today Chantilly Racecourse is famous as the home of two of the four French Classics, the Prix du Jockey Club and the Prix Diane. Chantilly Racecourse stages a total of 36 Flat fixtures between March and November

Course Characteristics

Chantilly Racecourse consists of a network of three right-handed, interlaced tracks, the longest of which, the Jockey Club track, is a mile and half, or 2,400 metres, in circumference. The 3-furlong, or 600-metre, home straight rises over 30 feet before the winning post and places the emphasis firmly on stamina.

Track Facts

The Prix du Jockey Club (French Derby) and the Prix Diane (French Oaks) are both run over 2,100 metres (approximately 1 mile 2½ furlongs) in June.

The most successful jockey in the history of the Prix du Jockey Club is Yves Saint-Martin with nine wins between 1965 and 1987.

The Great Stables, or in French, Grandes Ecuries, were built by Louis-Henri de Bourbon, the seventh Prince de Conde, between 1719 and 1740.

Caulfield Racecourse, known locally as “The Heath” after the natural heathland that originally occupied the site, is situated in Caulfield East, a suburb of Melbourne, Australia. The racecourse first became recognisable as such in 1876, under the auspices of the Victoria Amateur Turf Club, later the Melbourne Racing Club, and has since become one of the premier courses in the country. The highlight of the season at Caulfield is the three-day Caulfield Cup Carnival, in October, which culminates in the most valuable 2,400-metre (mile and a half) handicap in the world, the Caulfield Cup. The Caulfield Cup Carnival aside, Caulfield stages a further 20 feature racedays throughout the year.

Course Characteristics

The main course proper at Caulfield is a left-handed triangle, 2,080 metres (approximately a mile and a quarter) around with wide, sweeping bends and a home straight 367 metres (under two furlongs) long. The going at Caulfield is usually on the soft side of good and the course tends to favour horses that race on, or close to, the pace when the rail is moved 6 metres or more from the inside.

Track Facts

The inaugural running of the Caulfield Cup, in 1879, was won by Newminster at 5/1.

The last winner of the Caulfield Cup to be drawn higher than 13 was Let’s Elope in 1991.

The Caulfield Cup often provides a form guide to the Melbourne Cup. Eleven horses have completed the double and, in 1954, Rising Fast became the only horse in history to win the Caulfield Cup, the Melbourne Cup and the Cox Plate in the same season.

Caulfield racecourse was closed in 1995, and again in 2005, for major reconstruction work.

Arlington Park is located at IL Route 53 and Euclid Avenue in Arlington Heights, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. The racecourse officially opened on October 13, 1927, a year after California businessman Harry D. “Curley” Brown and a group of Chicago investors formed the American National Jockey Club. Today, Arlington Park is synonymous with the Arlington Million, run over a mile and a quarter in August each year. Between May and September, Arlington Park stages a total of 89 days of racing, including 13 Graded Stakes races.

Course Characteristics

The main track at Arlington Park is left-handed, Polytrack oval, a mile and a furlong in circumference with a one and a half furlong home straight. The turf track, which runs inside the Polytrack, is a mile in circumference. According to the latest statistics, there appears to be a definite bias, on both Polytrack and turf, towards horses racing on the inside at Arlington Park.

Track Facts

Aside from the Arlington Million Stakes, Arlington Park is home to two more Grade 1 races, the Beverly D. Stakes and the Secretariat Stakes, run on the same day as the Arlington Million.

The Arlington Million Stakes was the world’s first $1 million horse race when it was inaugurated in 1981.

The longest-priced winner of the Arlington Million was Mill Native at 40.6/1 in 1988.

The Breeders’ Cup World Thoroughbred Championships were held at Arlington Park in 2002.

Arlington Park replaced its original dirt track with a synthetic, Polytrack, surface in 2007.

Course Closure

In early 2021 the owners of Arlington Park put it up for sale for redevelopment. Later that year the Chicago Bears reached an agreement to buy it, which went through in 2023. The former owners Churchill Downs Inc. were accused by the Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association of abandoning “any meaningful commitment to Illinois racing”. The last day’s racing on th course was on September 25th 2021.