Final preparations are underway for the 2022 season at Harrah’s Hoosier Park Racing & Casino, which will begin on Friday, March 25.

The 160-day meet stretches through Dec. 10 with a nightly post time of 6:30 p.m.

Racing at Harrah’s Hoosier Park Racing & Casino will take place on Friday and Saturday the opening week; Thursday, Friday and Saturday the second week; and then a Wednesday-through-Saturday schedule before adding Tuesdays starting June 7.

The barn area will officially open for the season on Saturday, March 5, for horsepeople allotted stalls for the season to begin moving in horses and equipment. The track will be open for training from 6 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., and will remain open during these hours throughout the duration of the season. The track will be closed on Sundays, and all days of training will be subject to weather permitting. The paddock and ship-in area will also be open for horsepeople wishing to ship in and train.  All horses entering the grounds must have all valid paperwork required before being allowed entry to the grounds.

The first round of qualifiers is slated for Wednesday, March 9, with an estimated start time of 10 a.m. Qualifiers will continue on Wednesdays and Saturdays throughout the entire season. The entry box closes for qualifiers one day prior at 10 a.m. until March 25, and then the box will close at 1 p.m. going forward. The annual nighttime dress rehearsal qualifying program is slated for Wednesday, March 23, and will begin at 5 p.m. The evening round of qualifiers will allow horsepeople, racing officials and fans to watch qualifiers under the lights prior to opening night.

Condition sheets and stakes schedules will be posted on Hoosier Park’s website as soon as they are made available. Hoosier Park recently announced several overnight and late closing events to be contested in early April and May along with a variety of mini-series for Indiana-sired horses. All of the overnight series will be on Hoosier Park's condition sheets.

In addition, opening night will feature the return of Harrah’s Hoosier Park’s Claiming Challenge, a championship-style series  created for claiming horses. The Claiming Challenge will offer purses in excess of $200,000 total for horses ranging from $5,000 to $30,000, and will feature an elimination and final for each division. The Claiming Challenge is open to all claiming horses, regardless of where they were foaled or have raced, and all entry fees will be added to the purse of the final. Click here for a full list of the conditions and more details on the Claiming Challenge.

The 2022 live racing season at Harrah’s Hoosier Park will be headlined the $300,000 Dan Patch Stakes on Friday, Aug. 12.

(Harrah's Hoosier Park)