Churchill Downs has reduced its stakes program by $975,000 for its fall meeting because of declining revenue earned from wagering sources during the spring meeting, the Louisville track announced on Friday.

Churchill Downs will reduce purses in 11 stakes and eliminate a pair of ungraded $100,000 five-furlong turf sprints: the Mariah’s Storm Stakes on November 8 and the Cherokee Run Stakes on November 16.

The track’s 26-day fall meeting is scheduled to open October 26 and run through November 29.
 
According to the track, wagering handle was lost when the Kentucky Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association and the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association blocked distribution of Churchill Downs’s simulcast signal to all national advance-deposit wagering sites, including TwinSpires.com., the official ADW site for Churchill Downs Inc.
 
“To offset the amount of lost wagering handle during our spring meet resulting in less money available in the purse account for races, we need to reduce our fall stakes program,” Churchill Downs President Steve Sexton said. “Negotiations with Kentucky horsemen are ongoing and we remain hopeful this impasse can be resolved.”
 
Five races were lowered in value by $100,000: the Ack Ack Handicap (G3) on October 26 from $200,000 to $100,000; the River City Handicap (G3) on November 22 from $200,000 to $100,000; the Falls City Handicap (G2 ) on November 27 from $300,000 to $200,000; and closing day’s Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes (G2) and Golden Rod Stakes (G2) from $250,000 to $150,000 each.
 
Four Grade 3 races were cut by $50,000 from $150,000 to $100,000: the Iroquois Stakes and Pocahontas Stakes on November 1; the Commonwealth Turf Stakes on November 9; and the Cardinal Handicap on November 15.
 
Additionally, the Chilukki Stakes (G2) on November 2 was lowered from $200,000 to $150,000, and the Mrs. Revere Stakes (G2) on November 8 was reduced from $200,000 to $175,000.
 
Overall, the fall meeting now will feature 12 stakes events, all graded, worth a total of $1,925,000.