Harness: Ohio leads the way for the return of racing in North America

Finally, some light at the end of the tunnel. Following a seven-week absence from the North American landscape due to COVID-19 shutdowns, the great sport of Harness Racing is expected to return to the track on May 22.

If you had El Dorado Scioto Downs in your "which track will return first?" pool, you win! After receiving final approval from the Ohio State Racing Commission on May 14, both Scioto and Northfield Park were granted permission to return to spectator-less racing.

Scioto management relayed that they will hold qualifiers on Saturday, May 16 with an eye on returning to live racing on May 22, while Northfield Park is expecting to qualify on May 18 and commence pari-mutuel racing on or around Tuesday, May 26.

According to Ohio Harness Horsemen's Association Executive Director Renee Mancino, both Northfield and Scioto are expected to make logical schedule adjustments to find the sweet spots on the simulcast calendar to take advantage of being the only harness tracks currently racing in North America.

"We are moving some cards around to stay off of signals like Gulfstream," said Mancino on scheduling. "We are all trying to maximize our time."

Condition sheets at both Scioto and Northfield are expected to offer about a 10-20% purse cut in most conditions, with the range going from $4,000-to-$18,000 at Scioto as opposed to $5,000-to-$22,000 previously. The cuts, explained Mancino, are simply a safeguard considering the unknown return of revenue from casino operations, which according to sources could resume with a modified schedule in June.

"We are just being conservative. I'd love to leave purses where they are, but I don't think it would be fiscally responsible," said Mancino. "Depending on how things ramp up, we will probably raise the purses back up pretty quickly, because we have a good cushion in the purse account."

In addition, Mancino added that all Ohio Sire Stakes events scheduled for 2020 are expected to be completed in their entirety with no reduction in purses. "Our intent is to get the entire season in. We have until November to get all of the O.S.S. races done, and if we have anything to say about it, and we do, there won’t be a purse reduction," said Mancino, who added that they currently plan to race all 66 fairs in the state as well.

Ohio is not the only region where racing is on the immediate horizon. Woodbine CEO Jim Lawson announced on May 12 that the current plan is for live racing to commence on June 5 at Woodbine Mohawk Park. As with all tracks right now, there would be no spectators allowed.

Mohawk's return schedule includes training sessions on Wednesdays and Sundays starting May 27. Up to 50 horses will be permitted to attend by online appointment only. Qualifiers would be scheduled in the days leading up to opening night.

No official information was provided on the rescheduling of the C$1 million North America Cup, but indications were given that the event would be conducted at the end of August.

"We are working through the final details and that should be available in the next week or so," said Lawson.

Other good news in the industry came from Vernon and Tioga Downs. Owner Jeff Gural stated in a May 11 release that since his tracks are located in regions which the State of New York has approved to start "opening" beginning May 15, he would return to live racing at both facilities as soon as permitted. Whether that means as part of Phase I of the NY plan in late May or a later Phase in June is still up in the air.

"They are giving me a hard time classifying it (racing) as agricultural, which is allowed," said Gural on the current situation in New York.

Gural added that the tracks plan to host multiple New York Sire Stakes legs, as well as limited overnight racing.

"My guess is that we will race for horses stabled on the ground and Sire Stakes ship-ins," said Gural.

Another track with a more firm date is Hoosier Park in Indiana. The barn area at the track reopened on May 11, qualifiers should resume May 19 and according to a May 13 release, live racing is preliminarily set to start on June 16.

Air filled with uncertainty

While some regions and tracks have set dates or seem to have a path to live racing, others are in limbo waiting for more news from the Governors or Racing Commissions in their respective states.

New Jersey horsemen and The Meadowlands continue to work with government officials to get racing back in action in the state. Unnamed sources seem to point to early June as the most optimistic starting date, but the situation is changing daily.

When reached Thursday morning (May 14), Meadowlands operator Jeff Gural was hopeful to hear more on the situation in the next few days.

The worst news has been from the state of Pennsylvania, where Pocono, Philadelphia and The Meadows are all on the sidelines. Governor Tom Wolf came out with a statement on May 12 that placed racetracks in the last stage (green) of state openings. No clear outline was given on how long it would take areas to move from red-to-yellow to green. The Meadows appears to be in the best shape as it is currently in a yellow zone.

Back in New York, downstate tracks like Monticello, Saratoga and Yonkers remain in areas which have yet to reach Phase I of the four-phase plan for the state. While unnamed Saratoga and Yonkers sources have hinted that those tracks may return prior to the resumption of casino operations if permitted by the state, information from Monticello was unavailable.

Two more states on hold are Illinois and Massachusetts, which include Hawthorne and Plainridge, respectively. Hawthorne has submitted plans to the government on COVID-19 protocols and are still awaiting a decision. Plainridge was supposed to open on June 1, but the Massachusetts Gaming Commission voted 5-0 to postpone the opening until further notice.

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