For photos from the Meadowlands contact Lisaphoto@playmeadowlands.com

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Where Are You Going to Be This Weekend?

This weekend is Back to The Track weekend.  Where are you going to be?  If you love harness racing, you owe it to yourself to visit your local harness track with a few friends and show your support for the sport this weekend.
Many tracks are participating in Back to the Track Weekend with special promotions.  The tracks participating are Balmoral Park, Batavia Downs, Cal-Expo, Chester Downs,  Freehold Raceway, Harrington Raceway, Hazel Park, Illinois State Fair (Springfield), Indiana Downs, Jayland Trotting Association (Portland, IN), Mercer County Fair (Celina, OH), Pocono Downs, Monticello Raceway, Northfield Park, Raceway Park, Running Aces Harness Park, Saratoga Raceway, Scarborough Downs, Scioto Downs, Meadowlands, Red Mile, Tioga Downs, Vernon Downs, and Yonkers Raceway.  If you live within an hour of any of these tracks, you need to be there. 

    
Why?  First of all, by attending the races this weekend, you get to take advantage of the promotions your local track offers, including special wagering opportunities and drawings.  Secondly, it is an opportunity to introduce harness racing to people who have never been to the track; you can't get people interested in something they can't experience in person.  Perhaps most importantly, you will be casting a vote for the continuation of racing at your local track.  By attending the races this weekend, you will be saying racing matters to you.

Perhaps your ADW offers you a better deal than your local track.  Maybe wagering from home is more convenient, but without a racetrack there would be no harness racing for your ADW to offer you.  Is it too much to ask you to attend the races live for one weekend?  Consider your attendance at Back to the Track an investment.  Who knows, you may fall in love with harness racing all over again.

Freehold kicks-off their Fall/Winter meet tomorrow (August 12) with the NJSS Green Acres program.  Harness racing also returns to Cal-Expo this Friday evening with revised whipping rules in place.  Monticello Raceway has carded a special Saturday evening program in order to participate in Back to the Track. and offers a new Daily Double wager where you need to pick the winners of the same race at Monticello and Tioga Downs.  Speaking of special bets, there is a special Pick-4 wager being offered as part of Back to the Track on Saturday evening involving races at Balmoral Park, Meadowlands, Northfield, and Yonkers Raceway with a guaranteed $50,000 pool.        

Meanwhile, up in Canada, the Trials for the Gold Cup and Saucer, which we discussed last year will be taking place at Charlottetown Driving Park (CDP).  The first trial will be held on Saturday and features Secret Weapon with the second and third trials held on Sunday and Monday.  The final wil lbe held on Saturday, August 21.  This year, The Red Mile in Lexington, Kentucky will be simulcasting the Gold Cup and Saucer in addition to some ADWs.  Program pages for CDP as well as a link to the video feed for their races may be found here.       
Herve Fillion has announced 2011 will be his last year of racing and he plans on going on a retirement tour of race tracks.  Hopefully, his tour will include stops at Freehold, the Meadowlands and Yonkers Raceway.    
 

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