Altoona, IA – On January 21, the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission (IRGC) approved an 84-day 2021 race meet for Prairie Meadows.
The season begins with 26 days of Thoroughbred-only racing from April 30 – June 14 and continues with a mixed Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse schedule for the remaining 58 race days through September 25.
The June start to the Quarter Horse meet will again place the two premier Quarter Horse meets in the upper Midwest in direct competition. Prairie Meadows began running a partially mixed meet last season after years of the two tracks running a complimentary schedule: Canterbury running Quarters through the summer and Prairie Meadows in the fall.
The Quarters will run the same day at the two tracks only on Sunday. If the 2020 Covid protocols are relaxed by Spring, it is possible that jockeys will be able to race at both tracks this season as opposed to last season when they had to choose one location, reducing the riding options for trainers.
Live racing will be offered on a Friday – Monday schedule, with post times set for 6 PM CDT on Fridays and Saturdays, and 4 PM CDT on Sundays and Mondays, with exceptions for special race days, events, and holidays.
Stall Applications will be due in the Racing Office on Wednesday, March 24 with the barn area scheduled to open for horses on Friday, April 2 and training is set to begin on Sunday, April 4, weather permitting.
Prairie Meadows will offer 32 Thoroughbred stakes races in 2021 worth an estimated $2.92 million. The highlights of the Thoroughbred stakes calendar are the Iowa Festival of Racing on Friday, July 2 and Saturday, July 3 and the traditional Iowa Classic stakes races on Saturday, September 25.
In addition, the track will offer 23 Quarter Horse stakes races in 2021 worth an estimated $1.6 million, highlighted by the Bank of America/Prairie Meadows Regional Challenge Finals on Saturday, August 14 and Sunday, August 15, Prairie Meadows Quarter Horse Championships on Friday, September 24, and Iowa Classic stakes races for the Quarter Horses on Saturday, September 25.
PRAIRIE CONGRATULATIONS IOWA BASED AND CONNECTED AWARD WINNERS AND NOMINEE
Prairie Meadows extends congratulations to three industry participants and one equine athlete for their accomplishments in 2020. Victoria Dorrian was awarded the 2020 RTCA White Horse Award, Carmen McShane received the 2020 TIEA Leadership in Racing Award, jockey Alex Birzer is a 2021 George Woolf Memorial Award nominee, and Eagles Fly Higher was named 2020 AQHA Aged Stallion Champion. Eagles Fly Higher was the winner of the Grade II Bank of America/Prairie Meadows Championship Challenge in August 2020.
Birzer is one of five finalists, along with Jorge Martin Bourdieu, Kendrick Carmouche, Aaron Gryder, and Deshawn Parker, for this year’s George Woolf Memorial Award. The award recognizes riders whose careers and personal character garner esteem for the individual and the sport of Thoroughbred racing. The winner will be announced at Santa Anita in February.
