racing dates

For 2026, Maryland's racing calendar will look more or less like this year's schedule after the Maryland Racing Commission on Wednesday approved a slate of 120 dates for Laurel Park. That's the same number of racing days that the non-profit Maryland Jockey Club had been awarded for this season, with the only difference being that in 2025, six programs were run at Pimlico Race Course as part of the GI Preakness Stakes meet. Pimlico has since been demolished and is being rebuilt with the goal of all commercial-track Thoroughbred racing...

Mountaineer Park on Thursday received unanimous permission from the West Virginia Racing Commission (WVRC) to shift one end-of-meet date on its schedule and add two others, moving closing day of the season from Dec. 3 to Dec. 9. "You'll recall, with the passage of recent legislation, monies were provided back to the purse fund," Joe Moore, the executive director for the WVRC, said during the commission's Oct. 23 monthly meeting. "And with the additional funding, Charles Town had previously requested three additional race dates, [which] the commission approved." Mountaineer's plan...

Live racing on Wednesday, Apr. 23 has been added to the spring meet at Aqueduct Racetrack, the New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) announced via press release Friday. Following the cancellation of live racing on Sunday, Mar. 30, NYRA, the New York Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association (NYTHA) and New York Thoroughbred Breeders, Inc. (NYTB) requested and have received formal approval from the New York State Gaming Commission to conduct live racing on Apr. 23 at Aqueduct. The Aqueduct spring meet, which features 13 stakes worth $2.8 million in total purses, continues...

Both Charles Town Races and Mountaineer Park got approval Wednesday from the West Virginia Racing Commission (WVRC) to reduce live racing dates in 2024 compared to recent seasons. The Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (HBPA) chapters at both tracks supported the diminished schedules based on available purse funds and projected horse populations. Right now the placeholders are 158 dates for Charles Town and 121 for Mountaineer. But the exact number of programs will ultimately be contingent on the outcome of several overlapping federal lawsuits that have to do with the...

Illinois racing is still struggling to recover from the twin blows of the 2021 closure of Arlington International Racecourse and the inability of the state's two surviving Thoroughbred venues--Hawthorne Race Course and FanDuel Sportsbook & Horse Racing--to follow through with building their proposed racinos that were legalized back in 2019. Yet Thursday's Illinois Racing Board (IRB) meeting was conducted with a noticeably welcome tone of cautious optimism, as commissioners unanimously approved 2024 race dates against the backdrop of revamped racino construction schedules at both venues that could mean gaming revenue...

A dispute that began in October over whether Ferndale (Humboldt County Fair) will once again have to run its second of two weeks of racing at the end of August against overlapping competition from the commercial licensee Golden Gate Fields (GGF) will now likely extend into March. There are multiple reasons for the impasse. But the two main sticking points that emerged at Thursday's California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) were: 1) The two tracks, plus stakeholders from the California Authority of Racing Fairs (CARF), Thoroughbred Owners of California (TOC), and...

Monmouth Park has added two live racing dates on Sundays in September to extend the 2022 meet to 62 days following approval from the New Jersey Racing Commission. Sept. 11 and Sept. 18 - the new closing day -- are the added live dates, with stakes races highlighting both cards. The $85,000 Pinot Grigio S. will headline the Sept. 11 card, with the $85,000 Joey P. S. set for Sept. 18. Both are for New Jersey-breds at five furlongs on the turf. Monmouth Park's 77th season gets underway on Saturday,...

The California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) on Wednesday unanimously approved a 2022 race dates schedule that looks similar to this year's version, with two significant tweaks: 1) Santa Anita Park will take a mid-April break in the midst of its six-month meet; 2) Del Mar Thoroughbred Club (DMTC) will have a summer-meet closing date of Sept. 11, a departure from tradition that will extend the meet six days beyond Labor Day. The dates allotment was unanimously approved at the Sept. 15 CHRB meeting. The process itself was surprisingly streamlined and...

The Indiana Horse Racing Commission has approved two additional 2020 racing dates for Indiana Grand at their regular monthly meeting Thursday, Oct. 1. The two dates will be included on the final week of racing, increasing the schedule to 92 days for Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse action and a total of 96 days overall, adding in four days dedicated to all-Quarter Horse racing. The two additional dates added to the schedule will be Monday, Nov. 16 and Thursday, Nov. 19, which will become the new closing date for the 18th...