“We are really looking forward to the upcoming season,” Buffalo Raceway Operations Director Jon Cramer has said, as the track preps for the opener on Wednesday, January 30.

The 66-day meet will feature racing on Wednesday and Saturday evenings through March with post times set for 5 p.m. and 6 p.m., respectively. Friday night action will begin in April and the starting times have been slated for 5 p.m. The season will coming to a close on Saturday, July 20.

Two Sunday afternoon cards will be on tap (June 16 and 23 – the matinees will get underway at 12:30 p.m.). The track will be dark on Friday, June 14 and Friday, June 21.

Three special 7:15 p.m. Saturday posts have been scheduled for when Thoroughbred racing’s Triple Crown events will be run. The later live racing start times will allow customers to wager on the Kentucky Derby (which will be contested on May 4), Preakness (May 18) and the Belmont Stakes (June 8).

“We’ve got a few new updates for both the horsemen and fans,” Cramer added. “The improvements made will enjoyed and appreciated by both of them.”

For the horsepeople, they will see a 10 per cent increase in purses from the amounts that were offered at the close of the 2018 meet. They will also be able to compete in the ‘Opportunity Knocks’ series that will be held in February (the $15,000 finale will be contested on Wednesday, February 27).

Also, Buffalo Raceway has initiated a new condition sheet with ‘A’, ‘B’ and ‘C’ classifications.

In speaking of the new conditions, Buffalo Raceway Racing Secretary Tom Agosti said, “It’s kind of is like the dog racing system. A lot of the problems we encountered were if a horse finished second, he’d have to jump up a class or two. That won’t happen now. If you win a race, you only move up one level. And if you don’t finish first, second or third in three races, you can drop down a level.

“I think it makes for more competitive racing...it eliminates the drastic moves in class,” Agosti concluded.

Agosti also said that the track has 295 stalls available and that 289 of them are ready to be filled. “We are kind of short on stall space because we have people who used to train on farms coming in this year. We maintain the track every day so they’ll be able to get the horses in shape here compared to on the farms where the track there may not be usable due to the weather.”

The track added 5,000 tons of material to the half-mile oval in the fall and also did drainage work that hopefully will alleviate issues during thaws.

There was talk about eliminating the passing lane, but Agosti said they left it up to the horsepeople and he stated, “Probably 95 per cent wanted to keep the passing lane.”

For the fans, the track will have new food and beverage offerings.

“All food on each racing night will be cooked and made to order, including Wednesday nights,” Cramer said. “You can now order food and it will delivered to your table.” Some items that will be available on a rotating basis on race nights will be fried chicken, meatloaf and turkey dinners, along with sandwiches, hot dogs and hamburgers.

The last Saturday of each month will feature the Winner’s Circle Buffet. For $19, you’ll receive the buffet dinner, a racing program along with a $5 Buffalo Raceway betting voucher and a $5 voucher for Hamburg Gaming. The special will be available to those making reservations prior to race night.

The popular Lucky Exacta contest will return on Saturday, February 2. Besides getting an exacta combination where you could win up to $100 in betting vouchers, fans will also receive a Buffalo Raceway knit winter hat. There will also be a Lucky Exacta contest on Father’s Day (June 16).

Opening night on January 30 will feature free 2019 magnetic schedules.

The betting menu will remain the same as last season. There will be the usual win, place and show wagers available along with exacta, trifecta, superfecta, three daily doubles, Pick-3, Pick-4 and Pick-5s.

The driver colony will show the return of 2018 champion Drew Monti along with Billy Davis Jr., Ray Fisher Jr., and Shawn McDonough. Monti finished third recently in the 2019 North American Driving Challenge at Miami Valley in Ohio.

James Clouser Jr. will be back to defend his training crown, while JD Perrin and Maria Rice are also expected to battle for the title. Conditioners Mike and Brittney Ohol and Joe Skowyra will be returning this season. Monticello trainer George Anthrop will be shuffling off to Buffalo and will bring in a stable of eight, as well.

(Buffalo Raceway)