Tioga Downs kicks off harness racing season, revealing 2021 events weny.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from weny.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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The applications are available at the following links: Tioga Downs | Vernon Downs
Those with questions are advised to contact Brett Risi at [email protected] or 607.699.7688.
(Tioga and Vernon Downs)
Despite a month of crippling winter weather and the re-opening of racing in Ontario two weeks ago, betting at The Meadowlands has stayed on a roll. In fact, on Friday (March 5) night, management is hoping to up the track’s streak of wagering at least $3 million to an impressive 10th consecutive program.
“We say it often,” said Big M Chief Operating Officer and General Manager Jason Settlemoir. “But horseplayers have really responded in a big way to our low takeout wagering menu. With six of our popular 15 percent takeout wagers being offered every night, it has given players a more realistic chance to turn a profit, making The Big M the best place to play.”
Live harness racing will make its return to upstate New York this spring with Tioga Downs preparing to kick off the 2021 season on Saturday, May 1. Racing will follow a Friday and Saturday evening, Sunday matinee schedule covering 59 dates until September 25. With the casino operational and revenue projected to return to pre-COVID levels, the purses for the 2021 season will be close to the 2019 levels, said the track in a press release. It is our hope that live attendance and on-site wagering will be permitted during the racing.
Tioga also advised that the Southern Tier Harness Horseman s Association (STHHA) plans to reinstate the stabling incentive program.
Dee Leftwich Photo
Harness racing, at its very core, is a career that follows a routine pattern, but at the same time, follows no routine at all. In other words, the everyday routine of each stable is set through a similar schedule – morning feed, stalls, buckets, watering, jogging or training, bathing, lunch, and dinner.
Now these schedules vary from stable to stable. Everything from how far a horse is jogged to how much they are fed to how many buckets of water each horse has can be different. But, the routine of a single stable changes as anything can happen in the barn. Horses get sick, pop a gravel, get mysterious injuries, and more.