Odds On Racing - Harness Racing

Prairie Meadows Separates Meets by Breeds

January 15, 2010

Prairie Meadows for the first time will separate its thoroughbred and quarter horse racing this year.

The Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission on Thursday approved a plan with 103 racing days that begins April 24 and has separate meets for thoroughbreds, quarter horses and standardbreds. The schedule will be:

• A 67-day thoroughbred meet from April 24 to Aug. 7 offering $228,000 in purses per day to horse owners.

• A 26-day quarter horse meet from Aug. 13 to Sept. 25, with $119,000 per day in purses.

• A 10-day harness season from Oct. 1-16, with $55,000 per day in purses.

It will be the first time since Prairie Meadows opened in 1989 that it has offered a quarter horse-only meet. In 2009, the track had a 50-day thoroughbred-only meet, a 32-day combined thoroughbred-quarter horse meet and a 16-day harness meet.

Prairie Meadows board members have said they want to separate the breeds in part to see how much of an audience the quarter horses have.

Prairie Meadows is looking to revamp its racing program in an effort to increase betting and cut costs. The 2010 format is unlikely to save much money — the length of the season is only one week shorter than last year and the $19 million in purse money that goes to horse owners is set by law.

However, Tom Whitney, chairman of Prairie Meadows’ Racing Committee, said this is a step in making long-term savings.

“We will have an opportunity to measure the success or failure of the program and that will lead to adjustments,” he said.

Prairie Meadows’ initial plan called for having no harness meet while continuing to finance harness races at fairs across Iowa. And if the quarter horse meet does poorly during a three-year trial, Prairie Meadows could seek to cut back or eliminate that breed from its program.

The commission directed Prairie Meadows to offer 10 days of harness racing. Whitney said he still hopes that Prairie Meadows can eventually end its harness meet, which draws little attendance or betting.

Whether the new format reduces problems or adds to them is a question to be answered. There is a horse shortage nationwide and a glut of Midwest tracks that race in the spring. The thoroughbred meet had about 300 empty stalls and short fields in 2009, leading to a 22.4 percent drop in betting, compared to a 9.9 percent drop nationwide.

Part of the problem in recruiting stables was that the thoroughbred-only meet ended in early- to mid-July, when there were no other tracks opening up. By extending the meet to Aug. 7, stables at Prairie Meadows can go to meets beginning in Oklahoma or Indiana.

“A lot of trainers are showing interest that they can come here now and stay,” said Leroy Gessmann, president of the Iowa Horseman’s Benevolent and Protective Association that represents thoroughbred interests.

However, thoroughbred and quarter horse breeders say the shorter racing window will reduce their foal crop, which has declined by 39 percent since 2000.

“It’s going to reduce the overall breeding numbers in the state dramatically, I think,” said Scott Pope, a thoroughbred breeder from Adel. “We’ve seen a steady decrease in the foal crop, and I think that’s just going to continue. That’s unfortunate, because I think the reason Prairie Meadows was built in the first place was to foster a breeding industry in Iowa.”

Still unsettled is how much Prairie Meadows will give to the county fair harness races, which received $1 million in 2009. Prairie Meadows has offered $750,000, or $1 million if standardbred owners agree to race on a compacted dirt track during the 10-day Prairie Meadows meet.

The norm in harness racing is to scrape the surface to its limestone base, a process Whitney said costs $350,000. Harness interests say that horses labor on the compacted track and are more likely to get injured.