Working as a groom between his junior and senior years in college, Corey Johnsen wagered his entire week's salary on a horse in his care in hopes of earning his second-semester tuition. Decades later, Johnsen, now president and part owner of Kentucky Downs in Franklin, Kentucky, gambles on the success of a turf-only course accommodating shippers-only with just a six-day annual race meet. Will it be a winner? If uniqueness were a guarantee of success, Kentucky Downs, hard by the Tennessee border, would be a huge overlay. It is billed as the nation's only European-style turf course but General Manager John Goodman modifies this slightly and perhaps best expresses its essence: "It's English racing meets the county fair.

Ken Snyder (10 July 2008 - Issue Number: 9)