Bigger fields, higher purses for Mahoning Valley meet
The combination of opening a month earlier than it did for its inaugural meet last fall and having no competition from its nearby neighbor in West Virginia means bigger fields and higher purses at Mahoning Valley Race Course.
The track near Youngstown, Ohio, begins its 2015 fall meet Friday. Mahoning Valley, which opened in late November last year, caught a break when Mountaineer, located about 40 miles away, closed much earlier than usual Oct. 17.
As a result, there were 2,000 applications for 988 stalls on the Mahoning Valley backstretch.
Friday’s eight-race program drew 89 horses, plus 24 more runners on the also-eligible lists for seven claiming races and one event for Ohio-bred maiden special weight runners.
Overnight purses, which averaged $75,000 daily at the end of the meet last spring, will open the new season averaging $90,000 daily.
There are 10 stakes scheduled for November and December, beginning Saturday with the $75,000 Emerald Necklace for 2-year-old fillies going six furlongs and the $75,000 Cardinal Handicap for 3-year-olds and up at six furlongs.
The meet’s richest race, the $200,000 Steel Valley Sprint for 3-year-olds at six furlongs, will be held Monday, Nov. 23. The undercard stakes that afternoon is the $75,000 Mahoning Distaff for fillies and mares going six furlongs.
Live racing will be held Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays, and continues through Dec. 29, then will resume with a winter-spring meet Jan. 2 through April 23. First post is 12:45 p.m. Eastern.