Fort Erie again requests 40 dates for 2017

Fort Erie Race Track’s 2016 meet is set to come to a close Tuesday, but the track will apply for a 40-day meet once again in 2017. If approved, the 2017 meet, which would be the 120th season of live racing at the track, would run from May 30 through Oct. 17.

The track has run on Sundays and Tuesdays over the past couple of seasons, but the application for next year also includes dates on Saturday. Fort Erie’s application is to run on Sundays and Tuesdays in June and July before changing the schedule to Saturdays and Tuesdays in August, September, and October.

“We are always looking for ways to make our live racing product more successful, both ontrack and within the remote wagering market,” said Jim Thibert, chief executive of the Fort Erie Live Racing Consortium. “Saturday racing will be a pilot project for the 2017 season, with the hope that it will help us continue to grow our business and attract more people to the track.”

Racing on Tuesdays during the summer, as well as the Saturday cards in August, will be part of Fort Erie’s popular twilight racing program, with first post at 4:15 p.m. Eastern.