FLORENCE — The horses, jockeys and handicappers are back at Turfway Park for live racing — and they're looking down the homestretch to see if Frankfort is coming up behind them with some help.

        At the beginning of its 2001-02 live racing season, Turfway is making changes for the future, despite difficulties that the track and Kentucky's horse industry have endured recently.

        Several changes were made because of riverboat gambling in nearby Indiana, according to Turfway president Robert N. Elliston.

        In addition, weather cost the track 16 business days last December through February and, according to track spokeswoman Jennifer Haas, money made from wagering was down 17.3 percent during the September-October fall racing meet.

        Mr. Elliston, who says that November's numbers are comparable to last year, attributes the loss to the Sept. 11 attacks and subsequent economic decline.

        “Any kind of momentum we would have had coming out of the summer was double-punched,” Mr. Elliston said. “It was like someone just turned a faucet off there for a few weeks.”

        Ms. Haas said that the track lost good horses because of shipping difficul ties after the attacks.

        On Sunday, 1,359 visitors attended as the track opened its live season with a 27-day Holiday Meet.

        Changes to make the track more competitive include the new Longshots sports bar.

        The fourth floor has been closed; the fifth-floor dining room was changed to reserved seating for groups and the Homestretch restaurant on the first floor is now formal dining.

        Mr. Elliston has been working for six months with Kentucky's horse industry to deal with statewide losses. The mare reproductive loss syndrome hit Kentucky's horse racing industry hard in 2001, causing an estimated $300 million in losses, according to Mr. Elliston. He said that riverboat gambling has given both Turfway and Churchill Downs stiff competition.

        “What has been threatened is Kentucky's stature as the premier state for racing,” Mr. Elliston said. “The entire industry has had a difficult 2001, the racetracks, breeders, horsemen.”

        Industry members plan to address the Kentucky General Assembly in January as a group, according to Mr. Elliston. “We're just now taking a laundry list, a look at what possible solutions could be and who supports what.” William Troilo, a jockey who has been racing at Turfway for 19 years, said that while he is happy to be back at the track that he calls home for the live racing season, he thinks that the track needs legislators' support.

        “To be honest, I don't think that this year will be better unless they get help from legislators to have some form of alternative gambling, like the slot machines they have at other racetracks,” Mr. Troilo said.

        In addition to facility changes, Lane's End, the renowned Woodford County thoroughbred farm owned by U.S. Ambassador to Great Britain William Farish, will sponsor this year's Spiral Stakes, Turfway's pre-Kentucky Derby race.

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