Cumberland Run to bring racing to southeastern KY this Sunday

(For the News Journal by Jennie Rees)

Cumberland Run opens this Sunday (Oct. 15), bringing live horse racing to southeastern Kentucky for the first time and giving the state a third standardbred track.

Cumberland Run staged its harness meet the past two years at The Red Mile in Lexington while the five-eighths of a mile track was being built. The Mint Gaming Hall Cumberland Run — the part of the property that offers year-round electronic gaming, simulcast wagering on other horse tracks and now sports betting — opened in late July.

Kentucky’s newest horse track will race 12 days: Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays from Oct. 15 through Nov. 7, with a first post of 1 p.m. Eastern.

“We’re excited to bring live racing to southeastern Kentucky,” said Ted Nicholson, Vice President of Racing for The Mint Gaming properties. “We look forward to our purses increasing each year and building Cumberland Run into a harness-racing gem while continuing to build back the standardbred industry in Kentucky.”

Mike Tanner, CEO of the United States Trotting Association said, “The opening of Cumberland Run strengths an increasingly resurgent state standardbred industry that will attract horsemen, both local and out-of-state, to breed and race horses in Kentucky.   Together with The Red Mile and Oak Grove, Cumberland Run will comprise a circuit that makes a lucrative, compelling, year-round reason to be part of Kentucky harness racing.   The sport’s future is very bright in the Commonwealth, and I’m looking forward to being in Corbin on Sunday to see it for myself.”

Cumberland Run is celebrating its opener Sunday with a one-day carnival featuring games and rides for kids between noon and 6:30 p.m. Admission and parking. While the indoor gaming facility is restricted to those at least 21 years old, the outdoor area overlooking the racetrack is open to all ages.

“I hope everybody comes out for opening day with our carnival event, bringing their families and friends,” said Henry Graffeo, Vice President and General Manager of Cumberland Run and The Mint Gaming Hall Cumberland in Prestonsburg. “We really want to make it an experience for everyone.”

Corbin City Manager Marlon Sams said that he was ready for area residents to be able to see the full experience this weekend.

“I am just looking forward to the grand opening for the track. After several years of waiting, we have a track. I am excited. I think it will be good,” said Sams.

There has not been horse racing in the eastern part of Kentucky since Thunder Ridge harness track 114 miles away in Prestonsburg closed in 2018. In addition to The Red Mile, there is harness racing in Oak Grove near Hopkinsville in southwestern Kentucky.

Daily purses for overnight (non-stakes) races will average $110,000 a day, a substantial increase over the Corbin meets staged at The Red Mile.  The minimum purse will be $8,000, topping at $20,000, better than or competitive with other Midwestern harness tracks.

Horses eligible for the Kentucky Sires Stakes program will compete for considerably more. The meet will include Kentucky sires stakes legs and finals for 2, 3 and 4-year-olds with races categorized by gait (trotters and pacers) and sex. The preliminary legs will be worth $30,000 for 2- and 3-year-olds and $35,000 for 4-year-olds. Each final will carry a $70,000 purse.