Javier Barajas Returns to Ellis Park as Track Superintendent

Javier Barajas, whose résumé stretches from the sand of Dubai's Meydan Racecourse to the turf at Keeneland, has rejoined Ellis Park Racing & Gaming as track superintendent, the Henderson, Kentucky facility announced March 24. Barajas returns to a role he previously held at Ellis Park in 2020, succeeding Chris Bosley, who served as the track's superintendent for the past two years before being promoted to assistant track superintendent at Churchill Downs.

Barajas most recently served as track superintendent at Canterbury Park from 2023 to 2025 and brings more than four decades of experience in racetrack maintenance. His career has taken him across some of the sport's most storied venues: Arlington Park in Chicago, Fair Grounds in New Orleans, Golden Gate Fields in the San Francisco Bay Area, Keeneland in Kentucky, and Meydan Racecourse in Dubai, where he served as superintendent for the Dubai Racing Club. Canterbury Park CEO Randy Sampson, who brought Barajas to Shakopee, Minnesota for the 2023 season, said the hire speaks for itself: "He is recognized as one of the top professionals in his field and his record of racetrack safety is impeccable."

At Ellis Park, Barajas will work year-round while continuing his international consulting business, which currently includes a project to build dirt tracks in Turkey. His roots in the craft run deep: a native of Mexico who grew up in Chicago, he began learning track maintenance at age 13 from his father, who tended the turf course at Arlington Park.

Ellis Park Director of Racing Operations Jeff Hall framed the hire as a pairing of two world-class professionals under one roof. "We now have two of the best and most-respected track superintendents in the world working at Ellis Park," Hall said. "While Javier and Glenn have very different backgrounds, they share fierce determination to do what is best for the horse as far as surfaces over which they race and train."

The Glenn in question is Glenn Thompson, 84, a living institution at Ellis Park who was honored at the end of the 2019 race meet for 69 years of service to the track, the vast majority as superintendent. Thompson, who spent his first meet selling lemonade at age 15 before joining the maintenance crew as soon as he could legally drive a tractor, will continue working alongside Barajas in a reduced capacity. Racing secretary Dan Bork put the transition plainly: "Glenn wanted to work at least a 70th year for us, but he also wanted to cut back on those 16- and sometimes 20-hour days during the racing season. We're extremely fortunate that Javier was available."

Ken Mimmick, Ellis Park's Head of Project Development, noted that Barajas fielded interest from other leading racetracks before choosing Henderson. "Javier could have gone anywhere, and his hiring shows the commitment by Ellis Park's new ownership to the safety of all our participants, horses or human," Mimmick said.

Barajas arrives as Ellis Park undertakes two significant infrastructure projects: widening its mile turf course and installing lights to allow racing into the evening hours. The track's backstretch will open for horses on Saturday, May 9, with the first day of training scheduled for Monday, May 11.