Grants Pass Downs

Grants Pass Downs opened for training Monday ahead of a nine-date, spectator-free race meet that will span June 16-July 8. Purses are projected at $60,000 daily, according to a press release issued by the track. However, two stops on the Oregon summer circuit have called off their race meets because of the coronavirus pandemic. According to a notice posted on the Oregon Racing Commission web site, the Eastern Oregon Livestock Show meet at Union, which traditionally kicks off the summer fair circuit in the state, will not run its June...

Grants Pass Downs, which took over as the main stop on the Oregon circuit last season after the closure of Portland Meadows, has been awarded a $165,200 safety grant from the Oregon Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association in advance of the track's newly rescheduled opening date of June 20. The funds will be used to install new chain-link fencing, break-away foam distance markers, sand for racing surfaces, and a telescopic boom for safety mitigation along the homestretch straightaway chute. The immediate availability of funds will allow for completion of those...