(If approved by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, live horse racing will return to Ellis Park in Henderson, Ky., July 2)

Originally scheduled for June 28, Ellis made the request to move the date four days to ensure health and safety protocols are met for the COVID-19 pandemic. The summer meeting will be highlighted by a pair of stakes-laden programs Aug. 2 and 9.

Ellis Park will start off racing without spectators, but track management is hopeful that the state will allow fans in the stands at some point during the summer. The clubhouse is open for Historical Horse Racing on the first floor and pari-mutuel betting on the second floor.

“We were going to be open one day and then be dark for three days, before picking back up on July 2,” said Jeff Inman, Ellis Park’s general manager. “Just waiting until July 2 gives us additional valuable time to institute all the safety protocols involved with staging horse racing in the COVID-19 era. We are looking forward to the new opening date being a kickoff to a big four-day July 4 weekend.

“At this point, we are unable to commit to having spectators in the grandstand and in the grassy picnic areas near the racetrack apron and paddock. We’re awaiting word from Gov. (Steve) Beshear’s office as to when we can open areas outside of the clubhouse. We cannot wait to get our fans back and we will be ready to go as soon as Gov. Beshear and his staff feel that it is safe.”

Ellis Park will not have live racing the week following Independence Day weekend in a previously-announced agreement that allows Keeneland to race July 8-12 to make up for the Lexington track’s canceled spring meet. Racing at Ellis will resume again July 17 and run Friday, Saturday, and Sunday through Aug. 30.

After four years of sustained growth, the Ellis purse account for the 2020 meet was battered by the nearly three-month shutdown of simulcasting and Historical Horse Racing due to the pandemic. The track reopened Monday under reduced capacity and with strict safety measures in place.

Ellis Park will stage five $100,000 turf stakes on Kentucky Downs Preview Day, Aug. 2 and another stakes quintet Aug. 9 headed by the $200,000 Ellis Park Derby, with four other $100,000 races.

The Ellis Park Derby, which has been expanded from a mile to 1 1/8 miles, is part of the Road to the Kentucky Derby qualifying series, with 50 points to the winner.

The Aug. 9 undercard features the seven-furlong Audubon Oaks, a one-time Ellis Park fixture that was revived this year to serve as a local prep for the Sept. 4 Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1). Additionally, that day will include the Groupie Doll for fillies and mares, the Ellis Park Juvenile, and the Ellis Park Debutante for 2-year-old fillies.

The Ellis stakes are largely funded by money generated at Kentucky Downs and transferred to the Ellis Park purse account in an agreement with the Kentucky Horsemen’s Benevolent & Protective Association, which represents horse owners and trainers at both tracks. Winners of the Kentucky Downs Preview stakes receive an automatic fees-paid spot in their associated Kentucky Downs stakes.

“The trend in racing has been packaging stakes into big event days,” Inman said. “We have a pair of showcase cards, strategically placed on Sundays to put Ellis Park in the limelight for the national simulcast audience on that day. Racing secretary Dan Bork also positioned both days so that they work well with turf stakes at Churchill Downs‘ spring meet and Keeneland’s boutique session and also as preludes to Kentucky Downs and Churchill Downs’ new Derby Week and September meet stakes.”

The Aug. 2 and 9 stakes all include $25,000 in Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund purse supplements.

Ellis Park will have two $50,000 stakes: The July 5 Ellis Park Turf for fillies and mares and the July 26 Good Lord Stakes for sprinters.

“While we’re certainly going to have our challenges, we believe the momentum of the Kentucky circuit the past few years and the loyal support of our horsemen and fans will serve us well,” Inman said. “As Americans and businesses everywhere confront this rocky stretch created by a once-in-a-century health emergency, we will get through this together. We are just delighted that we are able to bring live racing to western Kentucky this summer, even more so given the uncertainty surrounding whether there will be racing in Chicago at Arlington Park this summer. The Kentucky Downs Preview Day and Ellis Park Derby day should be a real treat for horseplayers and racing enthusiasts everywhere.”