| Executive Director Email Tony S. Membership/Questions Email Noel A. Insurance Questions Email Marlene R. |
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15 Spinning Wheel Road, Suite 432 • Hinsdale, IL 60521 |
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Super Night Stake Elims Tweaking ? (09/05/10)Posted Sunday, September 5 By Mike Paradise Both the Orange and Blue eliminations for two-year-olds, along with the three year-old stake elims—The Pete Langley for males and the Grandma Ann for females—will be raced this upcoming Saturday evening. The sophomore trots, the Su Mac Lad and the Lady Ann Reed, will go a day later next Sunday night. All the elimination races for the Tony Maurello for state-bred colts and geldings three and up and the Lorna Propes for ICF distaffers, also three and upward, will all be held either next Saturday or next Sunday depending on how many of the 2 and 3-year-old elims are necessary. Since the demise of old Sportsman’s Park that necessitated a shift of Super Night to Balmoral, elims for those major ICF stakes been conducted on Saturday and Sunday evenings on the Crete, IL oval and that gives the horses racing on Sunday one less day to prepare for their biggest night of the year. Why? Wouldn’t it make more sense to go with the old successful Sportsman’s Park format of Super Night elimination races on a Friday and a Saturday night program? It can be easily done. For one weekend a year Maywood could give up a Friday night and Balmoral could return the favor with a later Saturday evening. The switch would work out best for both tracks, and also for horsemen and their owners hoping to strike gold in a Super Night championship. That one night difference could be a big help to some horses who are feeling the aches and pains of a long season campaign or might be battling a sickness problem. That one day might facilitate some of those state-bred horses to be closer to 100 per cent for their most important race of the year. Instead we again will have horses having to compete in Super Night Championships on one less day of rest than normal. As it is we’re asking these horses to be at the track and in the Detention Barn at noon on Super Night and every year the two-year-old colts don’t race until around midnight, some 12 hours later. And the Tony Maurello aged male pace (formerly the Dan Patch) always is plugged in near the latter end of the card so those horses usually wait about 11 hours for the Maurello Final and this year they may have to compete in elims six days away from their Super Night championship. In the past the Illinois Racing Board has shifted some Maywood Friday nights to Balmoral when the far south suburban facility hosted a Fair; therefore the precedent has been set for a switch in weekend dates. It can also be pointed out that a Friday night card at Balmoral with Super Night eliminations will generate more money than a Sunday one, especially the live on-track handle, and that’s priority No. 1. Next year I’d like to see this format enacted and also give Maywood Park the opportunity to race its showcase Windy City Pace event on a Saturday in October or early November instead of a Friday. The mutuel numbers in that stake have gone downward through the years and that was before the economy went into the tank. The Windy City needs a shot in the arm. A Saturday night for this stake can only help. At one time the mutuel handles on Friday and Saturday nights used to be on a par with each other but not any longer. Harness racing nation-wide is more popular on Saturday nights than on Fridays. You can bet Maywood’s handle on a Saturday Windy City Pace Night would be greater than if held on a Friday evening. Except for Maywood Park is there another track in the country that holds its showcase event—and its other major open stakes—on a Friday evening rather than a Saturday? A Balmoral/Maywood Friday and Saturday swap for two weekends next year is a win-win situation anyway you look at it. Sunday Notes: Dave Magee is off his Sunday drives at Balmoral Park. He’s in Lexington today where he has scheduled drives in five Kentucky Sire Stake races. To view Archived Notes and Quotes click here. County Fair Report CHRISTIAN COUNTY-TRI COUNTRY FAIR AT PANA Friday, September 3 Results FIRST: Non-Winners $2,500 Trot, Purse $900: SECOND: Non-Winners $2,500 Trot, Purse $900: THIRD: Winners Over $2,500, Purse $1,050: FOURTH: Winners Over $2,500, Purse $1,050: FIFTH: Non-Winners $2,500 Pace, Purse $900: SIXTH: Non-Winners $2,500 Pace, Purse $900: SEVENTH: Non-Winners $2,500 Pace, Purse $900: EIGHTH: Winners Over $2,500 Trot, Purse $1,050: NINTH: Winners Over $2,500 Trot, Purse $1,050:
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