Turfway Park

An aged and decaying racetrack that still manages to exude a weird kind of charm. I came for the Spiral Stakes day, so I was seeing perhaps the height of this Turfway meet. It's a day when the racing world's attention is briefly concentrated here and several famous jockeys and personalities make the trip down. Despite this, I found the park very accessible. You could get a fence spot near the paddock or finish line easily and with no elbowing. The people around you were inebriated, social, and very, very welcoming. Through and including the graded stakes on the day's card, you could grab a spot along the rail at the winner's circle. A lot of the actual betting equipment is older and the "good" modern machines are scattered all over the place and crowded. The TVs are small and not very well placed.

Overall, the racetrack has definitely seen better days. You note it from the start when you walk up and the huge, ancient, green TURFWAY PARK letters are hanging precariously over your head as you walk in. Inside it is larger than expected, but has typical racetrack fare for food. Concrete steps are worn to the point of exposing the rebar below, and even the "fancier" touches like the horse-head statuettes crowing the tops of rail fence posts are worn down to the point where some of the poor horses' faces are chipped away. I kind of liked it as a sort of elegant decay, but I think if you took away the fun of it being a graded stakes day it would weigh on you as a crappy facility past it's prime. The people are great, though. Kentucky people are just so damned friendly and easygoing.

$1 Beers, Hot Dogs, Horse Racing and People Watching. It's all good!

Having been to a few tracks in the NY area that are monoliths in size, it was really nice to spend a day exploring one of the many fine race tracks in Northern Kentucky. Parking was not a problem, as I had reached Turfway around the 4th race, I was close enough where I could easily locate my car, upon my departure if in a slightly influenced state of mind, but I had my buddy as Lead Navagator, if the internal GPS was in need to calibration.
Turfway was so well laid out, there is not a poor seat in the house and I scurried right up to the rail at the finish line to watch the next 2 races. Immediately following, I doubled back into the grandstand to lay a little action for the 7th-10th races (a "little" was my intent going in". According to the  Horseplayers Association of North America (HANA) they ranked Turfway 6th in value to players out of 70 tracks. It really didn't seem that way to me as I didn't hit a darn race that day, but the jockeys were so close as they exited the track, I got to express myself directly--Only kidding- I did however take some photos with me and all of my loosing horsemen.

As luck would have it, the day I attended, it was the week after The Vinery Racing Spiral Stakes, yet the track was still buzzing with track characters. I plan on returning March of 2013 and attend the Stakes Race's and a little better educated on my betting approach.

A Little Turfway History: The original Latonia Race Course opened in 1883 in Latonia, Kentucky, 10 miles north of present-day Turfway. Through the 1920s, Latonia was a force in racing, offering top horses, top jockeys, and the country's richest purses.

Everything price-wise from parking, admittance, food and beverages were very fair, you get so much more of a bang for your buck then Driving 20 miles to see the Cincinnati Red's play some early season base ball games. Last but certainly not least, the people of KY are among the finest people I have ever had the pleasure to cross paths with.