ALTOONA, IA – Prairie Meadows 2019 season, the track’s thirtieth, debuts this evening at 6 PM on Kentucky Oaks evening rather than its traditional opening date of mid-late April. The change was necessitated by several of the tracks that feed horses to the Altoona oval extending their seasons through the Kentucky Derby, most notably giant Oaklawn Park and its vastly improved purse structure.
“There’s certainly a different feel this year as we head into our 30th season with Oaklawn Park, Sunland Park, and Fonner Park still running as we start the meet,” said Director of Racing Darron Heldt.
“We allocate over 60% of our stalls in any given year to horsemen from those tracks,” Heldt continued. “We anticipate most of the barns we’ve had in the past to be here in greater numbers as we move through the month of May and our races to fill nicely as horses, trainers, and jockeys get back on the property over the next few weeks. There’s every reason to believe we will see an increase in field sizes as those people return to Prairie Meadows.”
Opening weekend will feature 18 races with a total of 130 horses entered.
New additions to the jockey colony include Walter De La Cruz, multiple leading rider at Thistledown, who will ride at Prairie Meadows once the Oaklawn Park season ends. Promising apprentice Luis Fuentes named on mounts opening weekend and Alex Canchari, once thought to be heading home to Shakopee, MN and Canterbury Park for the summer, is now expected to hang his tack at Paririe Meadows according to agent Gene Short.
Veterans Glenn Corbett, Terry Thompson, Alex Birzer, Ken Tohill return. Corbett is all-time wins leader at Prairie with 1,607 victories. Birzer next at 1,444. Tohill will ride for the first time since breaking his collarbone in a Sunland Park accident on March 23. Cindy Murphy, who won the very first race in Prairie Meadows history as Cindy Springman on March 1, 1989, returns. She and Corbett are the only active riders left who were here for inaugural meet.
Prairie Meadows has positioned itself well for the advent of sports betting in the state. The legislature has sent a bill to Governor Kim Reynolds desk that would legalize wagering on sports for Iowans. She has yet to sign the bill since the legislature adjourned last week and has indicated in the past that sports betting could be problematic for Iowans.
“The sports wagering legislation is on the Governor’s desk. We’re hopeful that she will sign it within the next 30 days,” said Heldt. “We’ve already done extensive renovation on our 4th Floor simulcast area with the anticipation sports wagering is coming. If all goes according to schedule, we will be open for sports wagering by the start of the football season.”
Prairie Meadows will run until October 12, with Quarter Horse racing beginning on August 17 and will have some overlap before the Thoroughbred season concludes on September 10.
Fourth of July weekend will feature more than just fireworks as the annual Festival of Racing will be held on July 5 and 6 and will feature eight stakes including the Grade III Iowa Oaks and the Grade III Iowa Cornhusker.
Iowa Classic Day, featuring the divisional championships for Iowa bred horses, will be held on September 2 with a special post time of 4 PM. Most weekday post times will be 6 PM with weekends at 1 PM except for specially designated days.
For a complete rundown of Prairie Meadows start times and racing information you can check out their website at https://www.prairiemeadows.com/racing.
