Southern Kentucky Day at The Red Mile is Sunday

As the inaugural Corbin racing meet at the Red Mile in Lexington ends on Tuesday, area officials are inviting members of the community to the track on Sunday for Southern Kentucky Day.

“Since we are having a facility in Williamsburg and the Corbin track will be in the Knox County part of Corbin, we wanted to invite people from across the area,” said Corbin Economic Development Director Bruce Carpenter.

Admission to the facility is free.

The first race will begin at 1 p.m. with the final race going off at 5 p.m.

The Red Mile was scheduled to host 12 live racing dates between July 4 and July 27.

Standardbred racing, commonly called, “trotters,” features horses hauling two-wheeled buggies, known as “sulkys” on which the jockey rides.

The races range from seven-eighths of a mile to one mile in length.

Construction on the Corbin track is slated to begin this summer with a scheduled completion of July 2022.

Site work has begun on the Williamsburg facility which is also scheduled to open in July 2022.

Between the two facilities, Vince Gabbert, Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Keeeneland Association Inc., said it will create 500 to 650 permanent jobs.

In addition to simulcast racing, the Williamsburg facility will feature 400 historical racing machines.

“We are looking at adding some entertainment options,” Gabbert said explaining that a Dave and Busters style family entertainment facility has been added to the plans.

“It won’t be the size of a Dave and Busters,” Gabbert said.

The Corbin facility will also feature historical racing machines, though Gabbert said it will be a smaller number than in Williamsburg.