Live harness racing returns to Saratoga Casino Hotel for its 81st season on Saturday (Feb. 5). The Winter/Spring schedule will feature Saturday, Sunday and Monday racing. First race post time will be 5:00 p.m. on Saturdays, and noon on Sundays and Mondays.

The summer live racing schedule will be Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings with a post time of 6:45 p.m.

For a complete live racing schedule go to saratogacasino.com.

Opening weekend promotions on Saturday and Sunday include chances to win $25 free bets (races 2-10) plus a grand prize winner of dinner for two at Morton’s The Steakhouse each day (race 10). Entry forms are located in the live racing program.

Saturday will also feature an exclusive SaratogaBets offer. SaratogaBets members can spin the prize wheel in the Mezzanine between races two and 10 to win up to a $100 deposit to their SaratogaBets account. SaratogaBets members will also earn an additional 10 percent on their winning Saratoga Harness wagers while playing on property through the SaratogaBets mobile app or any self-service betting terminal all year long. Interested horseplayers can log on to saratogabets.com to sign up for a free account.

“We’re very excited to start our 81st season of live harness racing here at the historic spa oval,” said Director of Racing John Matarazzo. “We want to thank our loyal fans for all their support and our horsemen for all their hard work during challenging times due to the pandemic. We’re looking forward to a great 2022 with 150 exciting live racing programs.”

“This year, horsemen will be competing for over $15 million in purses, averaging $100,000 in purses per program, so we’re expecting some great racing,” said Race Secretary Peter Iovino. “We’ve also increased the purse of our signature race, The Joe Gerrity Jr. Memorial Pace, to $250,000. We’re confident this race will attract a field of top pacers.”

New York Sire Stakes action also returns in 2022 with two- and three-year-old trotters and pacers competing for over $1.5 million in purses.

(Saratoga)