The Hiawatha Horse Park has released details for its 2010 season, which is scheduled to get underway Saturday, May 1 at the Sarnia, Ont. oval
.
New for the season will be the 6:30 p.m. first-race post time, which is half an hour earlier than in 2009.
Qualifiers will be held Saturday, April 24 starting at 11:00 a.m. The qualifying standards have been set at 2:02 for pacers and 2:04 for trotters with a second applied for three-year-olds.
The race office will be open Tuesday, April 20 from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and April 21 from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. to accept entries for the Saturday, April 24 qualifiers.
To contact the race office, call 519 542-1697 or 519 542-5543 (Ext. 212). Once racing begins, qualifying sessions will be held on Thursday nights.
Full-time stabling will cease in 2010, as there was no demand this year, but stall rentals for race nights are still available for $75 plus taxes per-month per-stall.
The new race night stalls will be east of the main paddock and are to be paid for at the race office.
Hiawatha will feature four Ontario Sires Stakes Grassroots races in 2010, with the Slots Cup being held on September 11 with 40 eligible horses paid up to challenge the $100,000 final.
More information about Hiawatha can be found at www.hiawathahorsepark.com or by joining the Facebook page (Hiawatha Horse Park).
(With files from Hiawatha)