Northfield Park's request for 213 racing dates in 2011, the same as this year, was approved Wednesday by the Ohio Racing Commission at its meeting Wednesday at the Delaware County Fairgrounds. Ohio's other harness racing tracks, however, trimmed their schedules by a total of 17 race dates.
View full sizeNorthfield Park will have 213 race dates in 2011.Northfield Park's request for 213 racing dates in 2011, the same as this year, was approved by the Ohio Racing Commission at its meeting Wednesday at the Delaware County Fairgrounds.
Ohio's other harness racing tracks, however, trimmed their schedules by a total of 17 race dates.
Raceway Park, the Toledo harness track owned by Penn National Gaming Inc., requested a cut from 56 to 40 dates in 2011. In an agreement with the Ohio Harness Horsemen's Association, Raceway Park agreed to 46 dates. The commission also allowed Raceway Park to trim four race dates this year from Oct. 16-24.
General Manager Bill McLaughlin said a lack of standardbred horses necessitated a cut in the schedule. He said the track's horse population decreased by 27 percent this year. The track is now losing more horses as Michigan's Northville Downs, Windsor Raceway in Ontario and Lebanon Raceway kick off fall harness racing.
Scioto Downs was assigned 57 race dates for next year, a cut of six race programs. Lebanon pared its schedule by a couple dates to 50.
Claimer in feature: To add to Saturday's field for a $5,000 Open Pace, Northfield Park's Director of Racing Dave Bianconi opened the race to horsemen with $8,000 claimers looking to move up.
Trainer Billy Knipper made the move with 7-year-old Knob Hill Splash. The pacer not only went off as the favorite, but won the race in 1:54.3, and was claimed by Janie Cantrell of Oil Springs, Ky., a rare claim in a feature race. Knob Hill Splash ($4.60) had been owned by Mihajlo Zdjelar Jr. of North Collins, N.Y.
Knob Hill Splash was one of six winners on the evening for driver Dan Charlino, who handled Just Crowned in Thursday's Little Brown Jug. Charlino is eighth in the North America driving standings with 402 wins in 1,977 starts this season.
Women in the saddle: Diane King and Jane Magrell are back in the saddle after injuries this year, and both have been showing up in the Thistledown winner's circle.
King, 60, limits her racing these days, preferring to condition horses in the morning. Last week she rode one of her own horses, Larmon, and King and the chestnut thoroughbred both notched their first wins of the season. King was recovering from a fractured cheekbone suffered last month in a head-to-head collision with one of her horses when it threw back its head on the way to the barn.
Reconstructive surgery is in King's winter plans.
Magrell, 46, was sidelined four months after suffering a broken leg when a horse she was riding acted up in the starting gate.
Surgeons put her leg back together with a rod and four pins. After lengthy rehabilitation, she made it back to the races and won two races Saturday.
Sires stakes wind down: The Ohio Sires Stakes wraps up the 2010 action with races today and Saturday at Northfield Park, and the OSS championships on Ohio Super Night on Oct. 9 at Lebanon Raceway.
Northfield is sending out the 2-year-old trotting and pacing fillies today, with the freshman trotting and pacing colts going Saturday.
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: degan@plaind.com, 216-999-5158