Breaking ground on Cumberland Run

For those tracking the progress, local and state leaders welcomed Keeneland and Kentucky Downs officials to the site off Buchanan Boulevard for the official ground breaking of the Cumberland Run horse racing facility on Monday afternoon.

“We never lost hope,” said Corbin Mayor Suzie Razmus. “We always kept the faith that this was going to happen and now here it is.”

Razmus described her emotions of standing on the grounds of the future Cumberland Run Race Track as, “It feels like years of hard work finally coming to fruition.”

The journey has included land purchases, new legislation, and more twists and turns than Hwy 92E, but through cooperation among Whitley, Laurel, and Knox county officials, state officials and Keeneland management, the project is now beginning to take on a physical shape.

Senate President Robert Stivers explained, “You don’t really understand it when you come out here and see this – all the discussions and the sitting down.”

“It has been such a cooperative and collaborative time over the last few years to make this happen. It is really a tremendous day,” said Stivers.

Community partners from ECL Racing and Keeneland addressed attendees, and they expressed their pride and gratitude for the progress of the facility.

Marc Falcone, of ECL Racing Management in Corbin, said, “We are proud to be here today to culminate what has been an extensive journey here for the development of this entertainment facility started by our friends at Keeneland.”

“We are particularly excited to continue our investment in eastern Kentucky,” said Falcone. “This will put us at a total of $75 million between our investment here in Corbin as well as our facility up the road in Williamsburg. We look to add over 250 jobs between both facilities that will both open in the fourth quarter of this year, 2022.”

“We will have moved over one million cubic square feet of dirt on this location,” said Falcone. “We are happy to be a part of this community.”

Keeneland President and CEO Shannon Arvin said, “It truly has been a long journey to get here, and we are so excited to see it come to fruition today. It truly is an impactful project, and we are really excited to be part of this community.”

“Our whole hope and goal for this project all along has been to positively impact the local community, and continue to enhance racing throughout the state through increased purses and market share. We are confident the Corbin and Williamsburg sites will deliver just that,” said Arvin. “This investment is also a great example of the horse industry working together. With our partners from Kentucky Downs, this relationship will result in best in class facilities generating millions in tourism dollars for the region and creating a destination that makes us all proud.”

Tom O’Dell Smith, 86^th District representative, summed up the emotions from the groundbreaking best by stating, “Daggum, this is a great day!”

“It is a great day for Eastern Kentucky. It is a great day for the 86^th District, and I want to personally thank you [Governor Andy Beshear], President [Robert] Stivers, Speaker [David] Osborne and Senator [Damon] Thayer for standing up and bringing this to the 86^th District in the house,” Smith said as he thanked his fellow legislators for their work on getting the legislation needed to allow for the historical horse race facility.

One of the driving arguments in the legislature was the impact that the project would have on the community and tourism.

Stivers told groundbreaking attendees that the impact from the Cumberland Run and Cumberland Mint facilities is already evident.

“It has had an impact, not just today or when they first start running, it will have an impact that has started and been going for two years to be culminated by the fact that this will become one of the first places you are able to access horse-racing when you come from the southeast portion of the United States,” said Stivers.

Gov. Andy Beshear rounded out the speaker presentations with some hard facts.

“Cumberland Run will be the first horse track in Eastern Kentucky since Thunder Ridge, also a harness track, closed in 2017,” said Beshear. “Cumberland Run will feature a 5/8ths of a mile limestone track, similar to Oak Grove Racing near Hopkinsville, but with a longer stretch.”

“When the facility is completed, which is targeted for January 2023, it will also host about 150 historic horse racing terminals,” said Beshear.

“These are exciting new attractions that are going to add to the energy of this region,” said Beshear. “This is a bright moment.”

The facility is expected to host harness racing events beginning in October. In an Oct. 26 meeting, the Racing Commission approved the 2022 racing dates for tracks across Kentucky, including those anticipated at the Cumberland Run facility in Corbin.

The commission approved Oct. 16-18, Oct. 23-25, Oct. 30, Nov.1 and Nov. 6-8 as the official race dates in Corbin for 2022.