News & Events

American Quarter Horse racing statistics for May 2007:

Group proposes Quarter Horse track for southeast Kentucky

(April 2007) A group led by longtime Kentucky horseman Johnny Jones (John L.T. Jones, Jr., former owner of Walmac International Farm) applied during April to the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority (KHRA) for the state’s ninth racetrack license. The plans of the seven-member group is to build a $20 million Quarter Horse track near London in southeast Kentucky near the intersection of interstate highways 75 and 80. Among other members of the applicant group are Ed Allred, owner of Los Alamitos Race Course (CA), R.D. Hubbard, owner of Ruidoso Downs Race Track (NM), and Chris Sullivan, co-founder of Outback Steakhouse.

Brian Caldwell, attorney for the group, said that all the members are committed to Quarter Horse racing and have “a tremendous amount of experience” in that sport. Their initial plan is for the track to offer 13 days of live sprint racing with simulcasts and other entertainment, such as concerts, the rest of the year. Caldwell stressed that financing for the new facility is in place, and that plans would not interfere with the two-day Quarter Horse meet run at The Red Mile in Lexington since 2004. Officials of the KHRA, which recently denied a license for a track in Whitley County, gave no timetable for a decision on the application of the Jones group.

Bill Brewer, AQHA executive-vice president, has announced that Rich Wilcke of Henry County has been appointed to a three-year term as a member of the AQHA Racing Committee. Wilcke is a director of KEEP and chairman of the KyQHA’s Sprint Racing Committee. Norm Luba, KyQHA president, commented that “This state needs representation on racing and Rich, who has had a distinguished career in this industry, and been an advocate for Quarter Horse racing in Kentucky, will be a positive addition.”

Read more Quarter Horse Racing News:
Kentucky Quarter Horse Racing Association
American Quarter Horse Racing