Ohio Derby Day on July 31 tops the list of events at Thistledown each year. This racing season, a major change in ownership for the big day could make it even more of a milestone event.
View full sizeHarrahâs is not planning any major changes right away after it finalizes the $43 million purchase of Thistledown in North Randall.The Ohio Derby on July 31 tops the list of events at Thistledown each year. This racing season, a major change in ownership for the big day could make it even more of a milestone event.
Harrah's Entertainment plans to close the deal on its purchase of Thistledown on or before July 31, said marketing head Gary Thompson. No major changes will be made right away, with Harrah's planning to "go slow and not disrupt things," Thompson said.
"We are looking forward to enhancing the entertainment offerings at the track," he said. "A lot of ideas are being kicked around."
The present Thistledown management team is expected to continue operating the track with input from Harrah's, which bought Thistledown on May 25 for $43 million. The casino giant has a great deal of experience in the horse-racing game. It owns Harrah's Louisiana Downs in Louisiana, Harrah's Chester Casino & Racetrack in Pennsylvania and Players Bluegrass Downs in Kentucky. It is co-owner of Turfway Park in Kentucky.
Derby horses: Nominations for the $100,000 Ohio Derby closed Tuesday. Director of Racing William Couch will release the list this morning. The draw for the race is July 27.
Slots, but with horses: A new pari-mutuel gambling game resembling slot machines was approved by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission on Tuesday. Similar to Instant Racing offered at Arkansas tracks, the machines allow betting on randomly chosen past races. Bettors would be given odds and other information on the resurrected races, with wagers put into a common betting pool.
The new game is getting support from horse racing tracks, if only because it could provide ad ditional revenue. As in Ohio, Kentucky tracks are suffering as tracks in neighboring states offer expanded casino games.
Keeneland President and CEO Nick Nicholson said the new game "would be another tool we could use to help generate additional revenue to boost purses and assist our industry."
President Bob Elliston of Turfway Park said he appreciates the decision, but his track will still have to reduce the number of racing dates to stay competitive.
Charlino keeps winning: Pennsylvania's Dan Charlino slipped past injured Aaron Merriman to take the driving lead at Northfield Park with 228 wins. That is seven victories more than Merriman, who has missed more than five weeks of racing after being badly injured in a crash at Pennsylvania's The Meadows.
Merriman, with two broken wrists and an elbow that needed reconstructive surgery, has not been in a sulky since the June 11 accident.
Charlino has been the "Friday Man "at Northfield, guiding 15 winners on the past two Friday night cards. In the North American driving standings, George Napolitano Jr. finally slipped past Merriman, nailing his 367th victory of 2010. On track to win the national driving title this year, Merriman most likely finished his season with 355 wins.
Oro dominates Thistle: Ernesto Oro finished the 52-day Summit-Thistledown Meeting with 39 winners, easily bagging the jockey's crown. Christian Pilares was second with 29 wins. Faith Schorr, who finished third with 26, was the top apprentice jockey of the meeting.
The training title was too close to call, right to the very end. Veteran Jeff Radosevich and Jamie Ness finished in a tie for the title, each saddling 21 winners. The trainers' race went right down to the final two days of the long meeting. Radosevich, who was Thistledown's top trainer in nine of 10 meetings before being denied a title in 2009, won on Monday with Emotional and Free to grab the lead.
Ness, the defending champ, responded Tuesday. He climbed back into a tie with Radosevich when his Kinky Boots scored in the 12th race on the last card of the meeting.
The 70-day Randall-Cranwood Meeting begins Friday. It keeps the thoroughbreds racing through Nov. 6.
Back to Track: Joining a wide range of harness racing tracks around the country, Northfield Park will jump into the Back to the Track promotion Aug. 14-15.
The promotion was developed by the U.S. Trotting Association and features a national Pick Four wager Aug. 14. There is free parking, admission, programs and a free $1,000 handicapping contest at Northfield that Saturday night.
Northfield's reinsmen will move to the grandstand side of the track during the program to interact with fans. Railbirds can enter a contest for rides in the track's starting gate.
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: degan@plaind.com, 216-999-5158