Prairie Meadows issued a release announcing the release of the initial condition book for the 2016 season and the opening of the barn area to horses on April 1 in advance of the meet’s opening night on April 28.

“Our purse structure will continue to maintain a bottom purse level at $10,000 along with having a maiden allowance purse at $30,000”, said Director of Racing Deron Heldt.

“We’re confident that our first condition book for 2016 offers horsemen the races they need to get their seasons off to productive starts,” he added.

Prairie Meadows also advised horsemen to be prepared to increased screening of the equine athletes due to the recent outbreak of the Equine Herpes virus in the southwest.

Horsemen should be on notice to expect heightening health and safety measures for horses coming to Prairie Meadows. With the serious nature of a recent outbreak of the neurologic strain of Equine Herpesvirus (EHV-1) at racetracks and other facilities, horsemen should expect additional requirements in order to safeguard the welfare of horses and for Prairie Meadows to protect the health of its equine population. Information on additional requirements will be forthcoming soon, but in the meantime Prairie Meadows racing officials urge owners and trainers to take precautionary steps to make sure your equine athletes and pony horses have received recent health care attention and have updated certificates for the 2016 racing season.

In addition to the track opening to receive horses on April 1, training is scheduled to begin on April 3 on the training track with the main track opening on April 10 for training.  Stall applications are due by March 23.