Harrah’s Hoosier Park Racing & Casino is set to kick off the 26th season of live harness racing on Friday, March 29. With a daily post time of 6:30 p.m., the opening night program will feature the inaugural edition of Harrah’s Hoosier Park’s Claiming Challenge, a championship style series of races created for claiming horses, the mainstays of the racing industry.
“One of our goals this year is to bolster the claiming program at Harrah’s Hoosier Park,” said Rick Moore, Harrah’s Hoosier Park’s vice president and general manager of racing. “I believe The Claiming Challenge is a great first step in achieving that goal and lets the horsemen know that the claiming horse is an integral part of our overall racing program.”
The Claiming Challenge was patterned after the popular Claiming Crown event in the Thoroughbred industry which has seen much success since its inception in 1999. These events have historically drawn entries from all over the country and feature some of the most competitive horses in the industry.
“Gulfstream Park and the National HBPA do a great job with the Thoroughbred Claiming Crown and I thought harness racing could use a similar event,” noted Scott Peine, Harrah’s Hoosier Park’s Director of Racing and Racing Secretary. “It is a great way to reward those horses that we depend on day in and day out. Hopefully, this inaugural edition is the first successful step in growing this event year after year.”
Harrah’s Hoosier Park’s Claiming Challenge will be a slate of races offering purses in excess of $300,000 total. The claiming levels will range 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 raced, and all entry fees will be added to the purse of the final.
A full list of the conditions and more details on the Claiming Challenge can be found on Harrah’s Hoosier Park website. In addition to the Claiming Challenge, the 2019 season will feature several overnight and late closing events to be contested in early April and May. Harrah’s Hoosier Park will also offer a variety of overnight series for Indiana-sired horses. All of the overnight series will be listed on Harrah’s Hoosier Park's condition sheets and will also be made available on Harrah’s Hoosier Park's website.
Live racing at Harrah’s Hoosier Park Racing & Casino will follow a Friday and Saturday schedule the opening week, a Thursday, Friday, and Saturday schedule the second week and then resume a Tuesday through Saturday schedule through the end of the meet on November 9. The 160-day season will offer an action-packed open stakes schedule with Harrah’s Hoosier Park’s premier racing event, the $300,000 Dan Patch Stakes, slated for August 9. For more information on the upcoming entertainment or live racing schedule, please visit harrahshoosierpark.com.
(With files from Hoosier Park)