Bigger fields the goal for Prairie Meadows meet
Prairie Meadows racetrack, just northeast of Des Moines, Iowa, hopes to elevate its racing product during a 67-day meet that begins Thursday through a simple premise – more horses in the stables should mean more horses in the entry box.
Short fields plagued the 67-day meet last year: Average starters per race at Prairie Meadows fell to 7.26, the lowest number ever at the track, which began conducting live racing in 1989. In 1996, the second year Prairie Meadows offered purses enhanced by a casino operating at the facility, races averaged 8.77 starters. The limited number of betting interests in 2015 produced predictable results, with favorites winning at a 42 percent clip.
Prairie Meadows’s stables can house a little fewer than 1,400 horses, and after subsisting with an equine population between 1,100 and 1,200 in 2015, racing secretary Pat Pope hopes to have close to 1,300 horses on the grounds this season.
“It does appear we’re going to have more horses on the grounds, and we’re getting a stronger base of trainers here than last year,” Pope said.
Trainer Chris Richard, who finished fifth in the 2015 standings, doesn’t have a Prairie Meadows string this year, but the top four barns from last year – Federico Villafranco, Lynn Chleborad, Timothy Martin, and Jon Arnett – return for 2016. Pope believes that three new trainers with a significant presence this year – Karl Broberg, Robertino Diodoro, and Bill Martin – will help with the pace of entries. Pope also expects a meaningful influx of horses when Will Rogers Downs in Oklahoma winds up its meet May 21.
Pope said purses will be paid at the same level as last year, roughly $150,000 per day, including stakes, but that purse levels have been marginally increased in some upper-level races and decreased at the lowest levels.
“We’re trying to send out the message to trainers that these better overnight races are going here,” said Pope.
Most race weeks during the meet are Thursday through Sunday, with a handful of special Wednesday and Monday cards interspersed. First post Thursday and Friday is 5:30 p.m. Central; weekend cards start at 1 p.m.
The stakes schedule took a few tweaks but for the most part closely resembles last year’s, with the Grade 3, $300,000 Prairie Meadows Cornhusker Handicap on July 2 the meet highlight. The Grade 3, $250,000 Iowa Derby is scheduled for July 1, the Grade 3, $200,000 Iowa Oaks for June 30.
The track goes dark for one week after the Thoroughbred meet ends Aug. 13. A two-month Quarter Horse season commences Aug. 20.