Welcome to the longest day of the year. Despite a week of tropical temperatures, summer did not technically begin until 5:13 am this morning in the eastern time zone. We will experience more sunlight today than any other in the year, with the sun not setting across the Commonwealth until well after 9 pm EST.
As you might expect, the changing of the astronomical calendar is bringing more heat. A week after Churchill Downs canceled two days of racing due to extreme heat, the racetrack moved up Wednesday’s first post time to 10:30 am to conclude the races before the heat of the day by 2:20 pm.