Churchill Downs Update: 'Downs After Dark: Oktoberfest' Highlights Busy Week of Events

Sep 16, 2026

Saturday night’s Downs After Dark: Oktoberfest, featuring nighttime racing, German-inspired food and drinks, traditional entertainment and live music, will highlight a busy five-day week of racing and special events at Churchill Downs.

Gates will open Saturday at 5 p.m. (all times Eastern) and the first race is scheduled for 6 p.m.

Big Time Grain Co. will perform at 5:30 p.m. on the second-floor Paddock Terrace Stage, followed by DJ GudGroove at 8:30 p.m.

Additional entertainment will include a performance of the national anthem by the German American Club, an Oktoberfest beer wagon photo opportunity and trivia on the Big Board. Guests are encouraged to wear traditional lederhosen or dirndls or incorporate Oktoberfest elements into their race-day attire.

The Trackside Smokehaus will offer several food specials such as Bierbratwurst with braised onions, German smoked brisket, smoked chicken leg quarters with herb butter, warm German potato salad, sweet-and-sour red cabbage slaw and other Oktoberfest-inspired selections.

Specialty beverages will include an apple cider mule featuring Old Forester, apple cider and ginger beer and a nonalcoholic Tractor Sparkling Lemonade.

A limited number of Prost & Smokehaus packages also are available. The package includes admission, a Trackside Smokehaus meal, two 16-ounce Oktoberfest-style beers or a nonalcoholic option and a limited-edition 24-ounce Oktoberfest stein.

Saturday’s 11-race card will feature the $300,000 Dogwood Stakes presented by Resolute Racing (Grade III), $300,000 Harrods Creek and $200,000 Seneca Overnight Stakes.

The week’s special events begin Thursday with Greek Night as part of Twilight Thursdays. Gates will open at 4 p.m. and the first race is scheduled for 5 p.m.

Greek Night will feature the “Greeks Pack the Track” competition, with the fraternity and sorority that sell the most tickets each receiving a $2,000 donation to their respective philanthropies. The winning organizations also will receive prizes from Red Bull.

The Dad Bods will perform on the second-floor Paddock Terrace Stage, while local food options will include Big Nita’s Cheesecake and Mimo’s Pizza. Twilight Thursday drink specials include $2 select domestic beers and $8 select cocktails.

Friday is Senior Day with guests 60 and older invited to enjoy lunch on Millionaires Row for $50. Reservations can be made by calling (502) 636-4450. Gates will open at 11:30 a.m. with the first race at 12:45 p.m.

The week concludes Sunday with the Stakes Room Brunch. Tickets are $90 for adults and $45 for children.

Live racing for the week began Wednesday with a nine-race program that started at 12:45 p.m.

For more information and to purchase tickets, please visit www.churchilldowns.com.

GRADE I HEROINE EXPLORA TABBED AS 3-5 FAVORITE IN SATURDAY’S $300,000 DOGWOOD – Mike Pegram, Karl Watson and Paul Weitman’s Grade I winner Explora was tabbed as the 3-5 morning line favorite against five 3-year-old fillies entered in Saturday’s 51st running of the $300,000 Dogwood Stakes presented by Resolute Racing (Grade III), one of three stakes on the Downs After Dark program at Churchill Downs.

Trained by Bob Baffert, Explora scored an impressive five-length victory in last month’s Test Stakes (GI) at Saratoga. As a 2-year-old, Explora won the Oak Leaf (GII) before finishing second in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (GI). She began her 3-year-old campaign by winning the seven-furlong Santa Ynez (Listed) then stretched out around two turns and won the Honeybee (GIII) prior to a fourth-place finish in the Longines Kentucky Oaks (GI). In June, Baffert returned Explora to one-turn where she won the Leslie’s Lady (Listed), a prep for the Aug. 8 Test. Jockey Juan Hernandez will have the riding assignment in Saturday’s race and will break from the rail.

The complete lineup from the rail out for the seven-furlong Dogwood, which goes as the evening’s eighth race at 9:39 p.m. (with jockey, trainer and morning line odds):

Explora (Juan Hernandez, Baffert, 3-5)
My Steel Magnolia (Cristian Torres, Caio Caramori, 30-1)
Where Luck Lives (Tyler Gaffalione, Brian Lynch, 12-1)
Conceit (Mario Gutierrez, Brad Cox, 7-2)
Movie Night (Axel Concepcion, Will Walden, 9-2)
A Fine Chardonnay (Brian Hernandez Jr., Ian Wilkes, 6-1)
Two races earlier, a field of six 3-year-olds were entered in the sixth running of the $300,000 Harrods Creek, led by Gervais Racing’s Maxfield Stakes (GIII) runner-up American Man as the 9-5 morning line favorite.

The field for the Harrods Creek in order of post position (with jockey and trainer):

Gilded Bandit (Luan Machado, Bill Mott, 3-1)
American Man (Cristian Torres, Dallas Stewart, 9-5)
Stop the Car (Brian Hernandez Jr., Brendan Walsh, 7-2)
Tagermeen (Jaime Torres, Steve Asmussen, 4-1)
Creole Chrome (Axel Concepcion, Joe Sharp, 6-1)
Doublecents (Francisco Arrieta, Brett Creighton, 12-1)
The stakes action will close in Race 10 where Juddmonte’s Grade II winner Consequent was made the 6-5 favorite in the $200,000 Seneca Overnight Stakes (Listed).

The field for the Seneca from the rail out (with jockey and trainer):

Woodstock (Ben Curtis, Joe Sharp, 20-1)
Answered Prayers (Jaime Torres, Bill Mott, 5-1)
Consequent (Juan Hernandez, Baffert, 6-5)
Knickleandime (Rafael Bejarano, Randy Morse, 6-1)
A. P.’s Girl (Brian Hernandez Jr., Peter Eurton, 3-1)
In Total Awe (Axel Concepcion, Al Stall Jr., 7-2)
First post for Saturday’s card is 6 p.m.

DOWN THE STRETCH – Wednesday’s nine-race card began at 12:45 p.m. and featured carryovers of $32,871 in the 20-cent Derby City 6 Jackpot and $359,083 in the $1 Jackpot 8. … Former trainer Neil Pessin has returned to Churchill Downs as an assistant to Kinnon LaRose. Pessin will spend the next several weeks in Kentucky before joining LaRose’s division at Fair Grounds. … Jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. is hopeful to return before the end of the Churchill Downs September Meet, his agent, Steve Rushing, told Thoroughbred Daily News. Ortiz injured his left ankle Aug. 8 at Saratoga but returned to the saddle Sunday morning to breeze a horse for trainer Brad Cox. … For the latest information about the Churchill Downs September Meet, visit www.churchilldowns.com.