While the live racing nights of Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday will remain the same, there will be a few slight changes at Balmoral Park in 2011

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The largest change will be the new starting time of 7:10 p.m. instead of the old 6:30 p.m. post time for the Sunday night programs. The change will be effective Sunday, January 2.

That means post time for all three live racing nights will be at 7:10 p.m. (central). The reason for the shift on Sundays was a reduction from the normal 12-race card to a 10-race card.

“We felt that with the shift to a 10-race program the time slot our races would fall into would be a better fit,” explained Balmoral Park General Manager Mike Belmonte. “It’s really about product placement and starting at 7:10 p.m. will help us maximize that.”

While keeping most of its current gimmick schedule intact, Balmoral has moved its $1 Pick 3 Wager to Races 4-5-6 each night. It had previously been offered on the final three races of the card each night.

The 2011 racing season will get underway on Saturday, January 1 and run through Saturday, December 31. There will be no live racing on Sunday, February 6 (Super Bowl), Sunday, April 24 (Easter), Saturday, December 24 and Sunday, December 25 (Christmas Eve & Christmas Day).

Another reminder for fans of the Chicago harness product: please keep in mind that Maywood Park’s New Year’s Eve 14-race program will have a special first-race post time of 6:30 p.m. (central).

(Balmoral)