On Saturday, August 14, Indiana Downs will offer a card of racing that will feature a mix of Indiana Sires Stakes contests as well as events that stray from the conventional
one-mile standard.
Known as the 'Dash and Distance Challenge,' the card will be held in conjunction with the United States Trotting Association’s 'Back to the Track' promotion.
“We wanted to try something different,” said Indiana Downs Race Secretary Scott Peine. “This is something to mix it up a little bit. The races attracted a lot of interest and most filled pretty easily.”
Of the 14 races on the card, six will be contested at distances other than one mile. Indiana Downs sweetened the pot on the races, allowing up to 12 starters for some of the contests, and paying those that finish out of the money three per cent of the purse. As part of the program, overnight races were also adjusted to allow for 12-horse fields.
The second race on the program, a three-sixteenths-of-a-mile trot, attracted a group of seven going to the post for a purse of $7,500. A five-eighths-of-a-mile pace has been carded as the third race on the program, offering a full field of 10 racing for $7,000, and a one-eighth-of-a-mile pace going for $7,500 will start a field of nine.
In addition to dashes, trotters and pacers will also go the distance at Indiana Downs. In the night’s sixth race a group of seven trotters will compete at a distance of one-and-five-eighths-miles for a purse of $10,000. Trotters and pacers will each go at a distance of one-and-one-eighth-miles in the final 'challenge' contests on the card. A field of 11 trotters has been assembled for the $8,400 contest, while the pacing division attracted a group of 12.
The card will also feature three $40,000 divisions of Indiana Sires Stakes action for sophomore pacing colts and geldings, as well as a $21,000 Invitational Pace.
Four races on the program will be contested out of the grandstand paddock, allowing fans a chance to get a close look at the horses competing. Giveaways are also scheduled for the program.
Prior to the Dash and Distance Challenge program, Indiana Downs has carded three races at distances other than a mile.
On Friday evening, August 6, pacer Troix Hanover covered the five-eighths-of-a-mile distance in 1:07.2 for Peter Wrenn. On Monday, August 9, a pair of one-and-one-eighth-mile trots were carded, with V Keys Starger and Sargent Volo each claiming victory in their respective contests. V Key Starger’s time of 2:09.1 lowered the World Record, set by B Cor Pete in 1997, by one-fifth of a second.
(Indiana Downs)