Western Kentucky’s Ellis Park, located in Henderson, has had a resurgence in recent years. The small, rustic track located on the north banks of the Ohio River (on the Indiana side, yet still in Kentucky) has seen field size and purse levels rise after the introduction of historical horse racing machines to the facility as a new, year-round source of gaming revenue in 2012.

In fall 2022, Ellis Park was bought by Churchill Downs Inc., and the track’s forward momentum has only sped up since then. On July 2, Ellis kicks off its 2026 summer meet totaling 25 days of live racing – so as the Kentucky circuit heads West, let’s take a look at what Ellis Park has to offer horseplayers and fans. 

How to Get There

For those driving from the Louisville area or points east such as Lexington, the quickest route is to take 1-64 westbound through southern Indiana all the way to the I-69 intersection north of Evansville, then take I-69 south and west to state road 41, and then drive south less than a mile on that very busy thoroughfare to the track. Folks coming from western Kentucky can get to Ellis via several parkways eventually connecting to I-69 and then north on state road 41, taking an immediate right after crossing the Ohio River bridge to drive into the track.

Major Race Dates and Betting Options

Easy paddock access and a laid-back vibe. (Eclipse Sportswire)

To begin its summer meet, Ellis will conduct live racing for four consecutive days starting on Thursday, July 2, and ending Sunday, July 5, including the July 4 holiday on Saturday. After that, Ellis will hold live racing on a Friday-Sunday three-day schedule each week through closing weekend on Aug. 21-23. Post time for the first race each day of the meet is 11:55 a.m. CT. Races from Ellis will be broadcast on FanDuel TV.

Major race dates are Friday-Sunday, July 31-Aug. 2, when seven stakes races on turf will be run; and on Sunday, Aug. 9, when six stakes are offered, including the Groupie Doll Stakes for fillies and mares, which was formerly the Gardenia Stakes and is now named after the two-time champion female sprinter who won the race in 2011. The one-mile Ellis Park Derby for 3-year-olds also will be held on Aug. 9.

Horseplayers have plenty of gambling opportunities on each racecard at Ellis throughout the meet, with at least two daily Pick 5s offered (50-cent minimum), a $3 all-turf Pick 3, and a 20-cent Dade Park Pick 6 offered, each with a 15% takeout. Advance-deposit wagering on races at Ellis is offered through TwinSpires.com, owned by Churchill Downs Inc.

Jockeying for Position for the Ellis Riding Title

Brian Hernandez Jr. (Eclipse Sportswire)

The Ellis Park meet will boast a strong jockey colony despite some of the regular Kentucky riders heading off to Saratoga for the summer.

The 2025 Ellis Park leading rider was Tyler Gaffalione who won 28 races from 99 mounts (28%) to beat out Jaime Torres who had 22 wins (16%) and Brian Hernandez Jr. with 20 (19%). Gaffalione is likely to spend most of his summer riding at Saratoga this year, so that will open things up for a scramble atop this season’s Ellis Park jockey leaderboard.

The 2026 jockey standings could end up looking a lot more like the 2024 season that featured a battle for leading jockey between Jaime Torres and Luan Machado, which Torres won with 21 wins to 20 for Machado. Brian Hernandez Jr. will compete for the title, as well. Cristian Torres (13 wins in 2025, 17 wins in 2024), and Edgar Morales (10 wins in 2025, 14 wins in 2024) are also firmly in the mix. Other jockeys who’ll ride often at Ellis include veterans Florent Geroux, Rafael Bejarano, and James Graham as well as up-and-comers Axel Concepcion and Yedsit Hazlewood. Hazlewood just finished the Laurel Park spring meet as leading jockey and also ended his apprenticeship. He’ll begin his career as a journeyman rider at Ellis on July 2.–Noel Michaels

Ellis Park Top Trainers

The Ellis Park trainer’s standings will showcase some top barns if last year’s 2025 leaderboard was any indication with Steve Asmussen taking the training title at 15 wins over Brendan Walsh with 11 wins and Brad Cox with 10 wins. Brian Lynch, Ken McPeek, and David Jacobson were right behind with nine wins each. Back in 2024, it was Walsh and Asmussen who shared the title with 14 wins.

Asmussen’s 2025 Ellis training title was accomplished by sheer volume with 143 starters, more than twice the amount of entrants as any other trainer. Asmussen wasn’t a good bet for handicappers, however, with a win percentage of only 10%. Walsh, meanwhile, was a much better bet with a win percentage of 19% in 2025 nearly matching his 20% win rate from 2024. Cox won for a solid 17% percentage at Ellis last year.

At the 2025 Ellis Park meet, handicappers made the most money betting horses trained by Lynch (27% wins from his 33 starters) and Jacobson (25% wins from his 36 starters). Some of the other trainers you should be able to profit from at Ellis Park in 2026 include Eddie Kenneally (6-for-19, 32% in 2025), Matt Shirer (6-for-12, 50%), and Riley Mott (5-for-15, 33%), who all won at impressive percentages last year.–Noel Michaels

Ellis Park Track Trends

Now let’s look at the winning track trends from the 2025 Ellis Park meet to try to find the best types of horses to bet in 2026.

Starting with dirt sprints, we see that Ellis Park was a total graveyard for closers in sprints in 2025 with horses rallying from more than four lengths off the pace winning just seven of the 101 dirt sprints at the meet. That 7% win percentage was a dip even from 2024 when 13% of that season’s dirt sprints were won by closers. In 2025, speed horses on the pace or racing within a length of the lead won 49% of the races and stalkers racing between one and four lengths off the pace won 45% of the races. Posts played fair for horses breaking from the inside, middle, or outside.

The majority of Ellis dirt routes are run at one mile (there were only six longer routes run in 2025). Ellis Park dirt miles are run from a mile chute featuring a half-turn on the clubhouse side. Ellis mile races were fair to both speed horses and stalkers in 2025. The 34 dirt miles were won by 12 speed horses and 16 stalkers, with closers winning just six times (18%).–Noel Michaels

Turf Tips at Ellis Park

Turf racing at Ellis. (Eclipse Sportswire)

The Ellis Park turf course is a one-mile oval. Ellis ran a total of 32 turf routes in 2025 and for the most part those races played fair in terms of running styles with an average field size of nine horses per race.

The big factor in handicapping the 2025 Ellis turf routes was the post positions, which got more ineffective the further out you went with 18 winners breaking from posts 1-3 for a big 56% win percentage. Middle posts 4-6 yielded only nine winners to account for 28%, and outside posts 7 or higher were even worse with just six winners in the 32 races to account for just 16%.

Ellis Park turf sprints are all run at 5 ½ furlongs and the track carded 29 of them in 2025. Speed horses and inside posts did alright in those races in a big turnaround from 2024 when exactly zero inside speed horses won in the 30 turf sprints at that meet (0-for-30 record for speedsters from posts 1-3). Last year, inside speed horses held their own with six wins to account for 21% of the races. Stalkers from inside and middle posts did well in Ellis turf sprints in 2025 with 12 turf sprint stalkers winning at the meet including 11 who broke from posts 1-6. The main Ellis Park turf sprint disadvantage the last two years was against closers, who won only four of the 29 turf dashes in 2025 (14%) after winning just five of the 30 turf sprints (17%) in 2024.–Noel Michaels

Amenities and What to Do in the Area

Family-friendly fun. (Coady Media)

Fans visiting won’t get the same experience watching top-class horses compete at Ellis as they will at the recently-completed meet under the Twin Spires in Louisville, and that’s part of the track’s charm – even though the soybean crop infield that gave Ellis its nickname of the “Pea Patch” has been removed to improve drainage. Instead of Millionaire’s Row buffets, Kentucky Derby murals, a $200 million paddock, and ample air conditioning, there will be picnic tables, ceiling fans, beer buckets, and ICEE stands. Ellis does have a separate air-conditioned building with a restaurant, which is now largely populated by historical horse racing machines and the people playing them. An air-conditioned Sky Suite is also available with nice views of the track and surroundings. But the majority of Ellis Park is open-air, and many fans congregate in a picnic area with several tents set up to mitigate sun exposure.

It’s a family-friendly, laid-back egalitarian vibe at Ellis, with easy access to the small paddock and ample space for watching the races on the track apron and rail. General admission is free during Ellis’ regular meet starting July 2, and a schedule of events including the popular weiner/Corgi dog races and Sunday dollar days can be found here.

If you’re staying in the area for a day or two, avoid the usual preponderance of chain restaurants and stores lining state road 41 on the Kentucky side or on the main shopping drag in Evansville, Ind. (John Lloyd Expressway) and spend time at the riverwalk areas in both Henderson and Evansville. John James Audubon State Park (named after the renowned ornithologist and painter) is right across the Ohio River from Ellis Park in Kentucky and offers a nice refuge for hiking and bird watching as well as a museum. 

I would be remiss to fail to mention nearby Owensboro, Ky., about 25 miles east of Henderson along the Ohio River. Owensboro is one of Kentucky’s best towns and is known for another destination riverwalk area, the Bluegrass Hall of Fame and Museum downtown, and perhaps most of all as the mutton capital of the world. Both the Moonlite Bar-B-Q Inn (for the buffet experience) and Old Hickory Bar-B-Que (dine in or carry out) are recommended. And if the gambling itch persists following a day at the races, either the Bally’s Evansville casino on the riverwalk or the year-old Owensboro Racing and Gaming (owned by Churchill Downs Inc.) are better options than what’s offered at the slots parlor adjacent to Ellis.–Patrick Reed