Indiana Grand begins 120-day season on Tuesday

The Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse season in Indiana will begin Tuesday at the newly named Indiana Grand Racing and Casino in Shelbyville. The 120-day meet at the former Indiana Downs runs through Nov. 1 with racing four days a week – Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays – until July 17 when Thursdays will be added to the mix.

This is the second year that all Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse racing in the state will take place in Shelbyville and all harness racing will be held at Hoosier Park. Both tracks are owned by Centaur Gaming LLC. The casino at the Indiana Grand houses more than 2,000 slots and e-table games.

There have been a myriad of changes to the facility this season, according to director of racing and racing secretary Kevin Greely.

“We want to make Indiana Grand the place to be,” he said. “We have been moving forward to improve the racing and have spent a lot of money on the facility itself.”

Greely rattled off a long list of things that were accomplished over the winter.

“We have built four barns over the last year and added 304 stalls. We have totally redone the surface of the racetrack. We tore it down to the natural base and put an all new track down. We have a new tote board with a huge big screen. We built a new winner’s circle and put new big screens all over the place. We are in the process of building 95 new dorm rooms for the horsemen.”

The purse structure will remain the same as last season, with an average of $230,000 in purse money per day. There will be only five nights of Quarter Horse racing, May 30, July 5, July 26, Aug. 30 and Oct. 25. Both July 26 and Oct. 25 will be Quarter Horse stakes nights, with each having a $150,000 event and multiple $100,000 events.

There will be a multitude of Thoroughbred stakes, with the highlight of the meet coming Oct. 4. The Grade 2, $500,000 Indiana Derby will be contested that night along with the Grade 2, $200,000 Indiana Oaks and three $100,000 stakes.

Greely said he had over 3,000 applications for the 968 stalls he has available. There are quite a few new trainers here this year, including Steve Asmussen, Kellyn Gorder, Gerald Bennett, and Mike Maker. The leading trainer from last season, Tom Amoss, will be back along with Gary Patrick, Tim Glyshaw, George Leonard, and Marvin Johnson.

Malcom Franklin will return to defend his riding title against newcomer Jeremy Rose. Other returning riders include Fernando De La Cruz, Rodney Prescott, Albin Jimenez, Marlon St. Julien, and Dylan Davis. Katie Davis, the sister of Dylan and an apprentice from New York, will ride here as well.

Entries for opening day went well, according to Greely.

“I am very happy with the size of the fields and the quality of the races,” he said.