Odds On Racing - Harness Racing

Around The Ovals
Notes & News from the World of Harness Racing

Wednesday, November 1, 2006

IRB Wants to Inspect Off-Track Training Facilities
The Illinois Racing Board will conduct public hearings on an amendment to the Illinois rules of racing, which will permit the Board to inspect off-track Standardbred stabling.

The changes to Section 720 of the Illinois Rules of Racing will permit Board representatives to search stables, rooms, and vehicles in the racetrack enclosure, or other places where horses that are eligible to race are kept. The rules already pertain to Thoroughbreds racing in the state, but are being expanded to cover Standardbreds.

The complete text of the proposed changes may be found online at http://www.state.il.us/agency/irb/racing/pdf/proposed/first%20notice%20720.pdf. The changes were approved by the Board at its meeting on August 15 of this year, and now enters the public comment phase. Those who wish to comment, in writing, may send their comments to Mickey Ezzo at the Illinois Racing Board, 100 W. Randolph, Suite 7-701, Chicago, IL 60601.

Driver Milestones...Canadian driver Mario Baillargeon entered Monday needing 21 wins to reach 6,000 in his career. He will become the 33rd driver in history to reach that level.

Fellow Canadian driver Chris Christoforou entered Monday needing 23 wins to reach 5,000 for his career. He will be the 56th driver to reach that level.

A New Track in Minnesota on the Horizon
Investors in a new harness racetrack to be built in suburban Minneapolis-St. Paul, for which a license was granted by the Minnesota Racing Commission in January 2005, say their plans are still on track. Representatives of the group appeared before the commission at its regular monthly meeting last week to provide regulators with an update on the still unnamed track’s progress, and said that financing for the $50 million project, which will include a five-eighths mile racetrack, is nearly complete.

"We need one more environmental okay," Thomas Fox, chief financial officer and president of Southwest Casino and Hotel Corp., said. "We need to have that by next week if we are to begin construction this year and race in 2007. If not, we won’t be able to race until 2008."

The complex will feature a card room, and horses will be accommodated in a ship-in barn and lay-up facility, but the plans feature no permanent backstretch stabling.

Art Rooney Elims to be Raced at Saratoga
Entries for the Art Rooney 2006 will be closed on Wednesday, November 1 at noon at the Racing Secretary Office at Yonkers Raceway. Eliminations, if necessary, will be raced at Saratoga Harness Raceway on Saturday, November 4. The final will be raced at Yonkers Raceway on November 11. The starting fee is $10,000 for the eliminations. An additional $10,000 is due for those horses in the final. Elimination will be raced for $40,000 each. The estimated final purse, based on payments to date, is $650,000.

The Rose of Tralee, the filly division of the Art Rooney 2006, has been moved to Saturday, November 11 and will be raced in divisions, if necessary, not an elimination plan. Entries for the Rose of Tralee will be closed on Wednesday, November 8 at 9:00 a.m. at the Racing Secretary Office at Yonkers Raceway. The starting fee is $5,000. The estimated total purse, based on payments to date, is $300,000. For more information, call the Yonkers Raceway Racing Office at (914) 457-2627.

Big M Qualifiers Set
Qualifying races have been scheduled for horses prepping for the Meadowlands’ harness meet which opens on Friday, November 17. The first set of qualifiers will be held on Thursday, November 9 at Gaitway Farms in Englishtown, New Jersey. Post time is 10 am, EST. The entry box will close at the Meadowlands’ Race Office on Tuesday, November 7 at 4 pm, EST. Qualifiers are limited to horses who meet the Meadowlands racing standards. The first qualifiers of the meet at the Meadowlands will take place on Saturday, November 18. Draw day and deadline for those qualifiers will be announced. The Meadowlands has a new toll free phone number for horsemen calling in entries to the Race Office: 877-STABLES [782-2537]. This is for calls within the United States.