Finger Lakes opens meet hoping less amounts to more

Finger Lakes Racetrack had a difficult time filling races in 2018 and had to cancel a handful of cards due to a lack of entries. To avoid a repeat of that situation, the track has trimmed its dates and raised its daily average purses, according to Fred Hutton, the New York wine-country track’s racing secretary.

Finger Lakes, which opens Saturday, will race 119 days this year, 26 fewer than in 2018. The track is opening a week later than a year ago and will cut back to four-day weeks for the bulk of its season rather than attempt to race five days.

“That’s kind of the dynamics of the industry,” Hutton said. “We struggled last year racing five days, trying to fill 40 races a week. Nobody is doing that anywhere. We were kind of the outlier.

“We had to cancel about five programs due to lack of participation. I think we made three of them up. Canceling is not a good thing. It throws off your horseplayers.”

Finger Lakes will race Saturdays and Mondays through May 11. Tuesdays will be added beginning May 14, and Wednesday racing will start May 29. In a change, the track will not race Thursdays until Sept. 5. At that point, Saturday racing will be dropped from the schedule for September, October, and November, with the exception of Breeders’ Cup Saturday, Nov. 2. The meet concludes Nov. 27.

Because Finger Lakes is racing fewer days this year, average daily purses will be approximately $120,000, from $15,000 to $20,000 more than in 2018, according to Hutton.

“We’d like to fill 36 races a week; that’s our goal,” Hutton said. “We’ve pumped up the maiden purses a little this year. We’re going to try and card more entry-level allowance races.

“We’re trying to get better horses in here. We want to increase the per-race handle.”

The Finger Lakes stakes schedule is the same as last year. The 13-race schedule for New York-breds will be worth more than $1 million.

The highlight of the season is the $200,000 New York Breeders’ Futurity, a six-furlong race for 2-year-olds on Sept. 30. That race will be preceded by the $100,000 Aspirant and $100,000 Lady Finger, six-furlong stakes for 2-year-olds on Sept. 9. The $150,000 New York Derby, a 1 1/16-mile race for 3-year-olds, is scheduled for July 20.

Last year’s leading rider, Jaime Rodriguez, will be back.

Chris Englehart, who won his 16th Finger Lakes training title in 2018, will participate, as will his sons Jeremiah and Jeffrey. Jeremiah won the 2016 and 2017 training titles.