FRANKLIN – While only nine racehorse owners will receive one of Kentucky Downs’ oh-so-distinctive graded stakes trophies – guitars signed by Nashville country music celebrity Lorrie Morgan – the owners of every victorious horse at the seven-day meet will be presented with an exceptional keepsake prize: a hand-decorated Bourbon of the Day “winner” bottle.

Four years ago, Kentucky Downs established an instant tradition of celebrating each day of the meet with a different bourbon. A bottle for every race is hand-decorated by Traci McPherson’s Ignition Studio in Hemet, California.

Kentucky Downs’ seven-day all-turf meet continues today, Saturday, Sunday and closing-day Wednesday.

“Kentucky Downs is a unique meet, and we want our trophies to reflect that,” said Ted Nicholson, Vice President of Racing for Kentucky Downs. “It’s a natural to combine Kentucky’s two biggest tourism attractions: bourbon and horses. It’s hard to win a race at Kentucky Downs, and we believe every owner should have something — in addition to a big paycheck — as a lasting reminder of their horse’s big effort.”

This year’s Bourbons of the Day:

Aug. 29: Angel’s Envy, aged in hand-selected port-wine barrels by three generations of Louisville’s Henderson family. Angel’s Envy’s sister liquor is Grey Goose, the vodka used in Kentucky Downs’ signature drink, The Mint Millions.

Aug. 31: Produced at Buffalo Trace’s distillery in Frankfort, Blanton’s Single Barrel Bourbon created a genre after being launched in 1984 by legendary Master Distiller Elmer T. Lee, who started his career in the 1940s under Col. Albert B. Blanton. Blanton’s Single Barrel Bourbon also is distinguished by its eight trademarked versions of a horse and jockey atop their bottle stoppers.

Sept. 1: Louisville-based Jefferson’s Ocean is a very small-batch bourbon aged at sea. Trey Zoeller co-founded the Jefferson’s brands in 1997 with his father Chet, a famed bourbon historian. The family whiskey tradition goes back to Trey’s eighth-generation grandmother who was arrested in 1799 for the “production and sales of spiritous liquors.”

Thursday: Heaven’s Door, a collaboration with music icon Bob Dylan, has been crafting award-winning whiskeys since 2017. The new distillery, located in Pleasureville on 160 historic acres once owned by Squire Boone, opens to the public this fall. On Sept. 5, the distillery will be showcasing its Revival Tennessee straight bourbon whiskey.

Saturday: Heaven’s Door’s Ascension Kentucky straight bourbon whiskey.

“As the only brand to offer both a Kentucky Straight Bourbon and a Tennessee Straight Bourbon, we couldn’t imagine a more fitting venue for our Great State Bourbon Debate,” said Eric Hundelt, Executive Vice President for Heaven’s Door, which will conduct tastings and encourage taster feedback this Thursday (Tennessee’s Revival) and Saturday (Kentucky’s Ascension). “Kentucky Downs, straddling the state line and merging two rich bourbon traditions, embodies the spirit of friendly competition we aim to celebrate. We’re excited to see which bourbon captures your palate and how this debate unfolds in such a distinctive setting.”

Sunday: The Kentucky Senator brand was first distilled by Crigler & Crigler in Covington and revived in 2019 by Kentucky Senate Majority Floor Leader Damon Thayer and equine lawyer Andre Regard. The fifth and most current release is the John Brown bourbon, named for Kentucky’s first U.S. Senator. John Brown was a Virginian who settled in Franklin County and as a Congressman representing the District of Kentucky sponsored legislation making the Commonwealth the United States’ 15th state.

Wednesday: Three years after he won the 2019 Kentucky Derby as a partner in Country House, Woodford County horseman Guinness McFadden launched Blackwood Toasted Bourbon, named after his Blackwood Stables and Blackwood Training Center. 

The meet’s other trophies: non-graded stakes-winners receive a guitar-shaped decanter and two glasses; allowance winners receive a bourbon barrel head with a place to insert the win photo; maiden winners earn a high-tech Fenwick Equestrian cooler horse blanket with the Kentucky Downs and Kentucky-bred logos as well as the phrase “It pays to be Kentucky-bred.” Graded-stakes winners also receive a blanket with the stakes’ name and the sponsor logo.

Kentucky Downs’ boutique meet has more than 30 other sponsors, including sports-betting and historical horse racing (HHR) vendors, famed horse farms and long-time suppliers such as Clark Distributing and Wright Implements. 

DraftKings became the title sponsor of the $3.1 million (for Kentucky-breds) DK Horse Nashville Derby (G3) on Aug. 31, named for the global digital sports entertainment and gaming company’s horse-racing betting app. DK Horse also sponsors the pre-race simulcasting preview show. 

Along with The Mint Gaming Hall, the names of HHR gaming terminals used at Kentucky Downs and its sister properties will be featured on Saturday. The meet’s showcase card is packaged as the FanDuel TV U.S. Open Turf Championships, with six $2 million races (including Kentucky-bred money).

Five winners may have their entry fees paid to the corresponding Breeders’ Cup race: The FanDuel TV Kentucky Turf Cup (G2) and Ainsworth Turf Sprint (G2) are Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series races, whose winners are guaranteed a spot in the corresponding race. In addition, Kentucky Downs will pay the entry fees for the winners of the Aristocrat Franklin-Simpson (G1), The Mint Millions (G3) and Light & Wonder Ladies Marathon (G3) if they make the Breeders’ Cup either on the point system or via the selection committee. The AGS Music City (G2) for 3-year-old filly sprinters rounds out the stakes that day.

In addition to DraftKings (Aug. 31) and FanDuel TV (Sept. 7), the other day sponsors are Big Ass Fans (Aug. 29), National Thoroughbred League (Sept. 1), Jeff Ruby’s (Sept. 5), Global Tote/BetMakers (Sept. 8) and Pepsi-Cola (Sept. 11).

Other sponsors: breeding operations Claiborne, Coolmore, Darby Dan, Gainesway and Three Chimneys and Hunter Valley Farm’s consignor’s operation; Keeneland, which sponsors a pair of $250,000 open allowance races on opening day for 2-year-olds offered for sale at last year’s Keeneland September Yearling Sale; the Breeders’ Cup; Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund; Kentucky HBPA; RedTag digital marketing, J&M Digital Print and Ignition Studio.