Vernon Downs and Tioga Downs donate $10,000 to Ensure Future for Retiring Standardbred Racehorses in New York State

Vernon Downs and Tioga Downs have donated $10,000 to Sunshine Horses Inc.

Sunshine Horses Inc. is a New York Based Racehorse Retirement and Retraining 501(c3) not for profit.

Founded in 2003, Sunshine Horses Inc. retrains, rehabilitates and re-homes this very versatile breed and gives them the retirement they deserve and have earned. Sunshine Horses also has many community programs bringing a wide variety of people to hands-on contact with this great breed.

  

Harness Racing in New York provides revenue to New York State as well as employment, income and entertainment for thousands of people.

A New York State Task Force tried to procure a legislative ruling that would give some of the money earned by these horses back to the horses to help ensure a safe retirement or training for a second career. But politics shut the door leaving the responsibility to whomever steps forward to advocate for these horses, the way Vernon Downs and Tioga Downs have.

 

Sunshine Horses Inc. thanks Vernon and Tioga Downs for taking the reins and making strides towards a partnership with Sunshine Horses Inc. to take care of these retiring athletes.

So as an exciting new racing season begins, new faces will be seen, but many familiar ones will not return.   

Many of these horses simply go to auction to a dismal future.

The spirit of the standardbred continues far past the finish line and many of these horses can retire into many other safe and respectful disciplines.

They should not be just thrown away when no longer useful to racing.

Sunshine Horses also wishes to thank Saratoga Harness Horsepersons' Association, Buffalo and Batavia racetracks and Western New York Harness Horsemans' Association for their generous donations and support in the recent past.

Donations such as this will enable more standardbred racehorses to stand proud and out of harm's way after their racing careers are over.

The blending of the standardbred into the pleasure horse world also provides an opportunity for the public to learn what wonderful horses these are and also promote the Industry.

As racetracks and Horsemen Associations step up and assume some financial responsibility, it clearly shows the public that the buck does not stop at the finish line. This says a great deal about us as people and the Industry as a whole when we take care of our own.

Please consider sponsoring a horse, adopting or making a much needed tax deductible contribution to Sunshine Horses Inc. so we can continue to help more and more horses.

Contact Kate Starr at (315) 729-7016 or email her at Katesunshinehorses@yahoo.com and visit them on the web at www.sunshinehorses.org.

VERNON DOWNS PREPARES FOR HISTORIC 60TH ANNIVERSARY SEASON

Opening Night of Racing is Friday, April 12

 

A celebration of the past with an eye towards bigger and better is the theme as Vernon Downs prepares for its historic 60^th anniversary season. Live harness racing begins Friday, April 12. Post time has been moved 10 minutes earlier this season to 6:45 PM.  The racing schedule features 90 race days on a mostly Thursday, Friday and Saturday schedule through November 2.

"This is going to be an exciting season to celebrate 60 years of harness racing tradition here at Vernon Downs," said Director of Racing Scott Warren, "While creating some new memories along the way."

Racing fans will notice many upgrades to the facilities this season including a renovated infield tote board, renovations to the Gold Cup dining room and a flashy new logo highlighting the 60^th anniversary of racing.

In an effort to celebrate some of those historic moments, this season's program cover features several photos of legendary races and people from the past six decades. As part of a contest, fans that correctly identify the photos will be entered into weekly drawings for gift certificates from area businesses.  They will also be entered into a grand prize drawing for $500 on June 29, the official 60^th anniversary celebration. That special evening will also feature a commemorative T-Shirt giveaway and a trip giveaway to the Hambletonian, harness racing's premier event.

On the track, a stakes schedule worth more than $2.3 million will ensure that many of the sport's top horses will visit Vernon Downs in 2013.

"There aren't too many tracks in North America that offer a better stakes schedule than Vernon Downs," said Vice President of Racing Jason Settlemoir. "Central New York will witness first-hand harness racing's very best horses, drivers and trainers."

Fans will also want to circle Sunday, August 25 on their calendars. That special Sunday night of racing will feature the first round of the $50,000 Drivers' Championship, harness racing's version of the all-star game. The card will also include the $700,000 Zweig Memorial Trots. Hambletonian champion Market Share swept to a track record win in last year's male division while super filly Check Me Out matched her own world record with a 1:51.3 win against her fellow females.

The End of Summer Showdown returns on September 6 with a pair of $200,000 races for older trotters, the Credit Winner for the boys and the Muscle Hill for the girls. One lucky fan will also drive home that night with a brand new car: Scion iQ in the grand prize drawing of the season-long Horseplay Car Giveaway. The promotion helps to raise nearly $10,000 for local charities.

Fans may also register each racing night for the 2^nd annual Million Dollar Ball Drop, another season-long promotion that could award one lucky winner with $1 million on August 31.

Other special promotional nights include May 27 (Special Memorial Day matinee with baseball hat giveaway, while supplies last); June 21 (Camel and Ostrich races); July 13 (Miss Vernon Downs beauty pageant); August 8-10 (Corntastic Weekend); and August 25 (Drivers' Championship bobblehead doll giveaway, while supplies last).

The Vernon Downs main track is being worked into mint condition by track superintendent Tony Rossi following another Central New York winter. Fans are invited to watch qualifying races on April 2 and 5 at 11:00 AM and April 9 at 6:45 PM.

A complete race and stakes calendar is available on the Vernon Downs website and fans are encouraged to visit the track's Facebook page for updated promotional information.

Brice Cote to Head Integrity Efforts at Gural Tracks

Brice Cote has been designated to lead the effort to detect and deter the use of Performance Enhancing Drugs (PEDs) and any other unscrupulous practices that affect the racing product at The Meadowlands, Tioga & Vernon Downs.

Mr. Cote has an impressive background in this arena, having previously served as a detective in the Racetrack Unit for the New Jersey State Police for 10 years.

"I was raised around horses and they continue to be a large part of my life," said Cote. "When I learned of Jeff Gural's intention to address PEDs in racing, I knew that I wanted to be involved."

"We will follow the facts in our efforts to protect the integrity of racing. The goal is to provide the customer a legitimate, dependable product upon which to wager and the horsemen a fair chance to compete within the rules." 

New Meadowlands Chairman Jeff Gural had this comment, "I am committed to having a level playing field at all three of my racetracks. I want the good guys racing at my tracks so that our customers can handicap the races without having to guess who is using what. I think one of the reasons that our handle has increased this year is the fact that we make a major effort to keep the bad guys out." 

"I think Brice is a perfect person for the job and I hope anyone racing at the Meadowlands appreciates our commitment to integrity and the fact that we are willing to spend our own money to try to help the regulators catch the bad guys."

Vernon Downs concludes season with double-digit increase in export handle

Vernon Downs saw a double-digit increase in export wagering handle and single-digit growth in live handle during its recently concluded live racing season.

The export handle (money wagered on Vernon's races at off-track facilities) increased by 14 percent while the live handle (money wager on-track on live races) increased by one percent.

"We are delighted by the double-digit increase in our export handle and continue to be pleased to see positive on-track numbers," said Jason M. Settlemoir, Vice President of Racing and Simulcast. "We thank all of the horseplayers across the U.S. and Canada for their support and look forward to continue to provide them with an attractive wagering product in the future."

The 2012 season wrapped up on November 2-3 and featured the second annual Turn Back the Clock Rewind Races, a series of 7/8 mile races contested in the clockwise direction. More than 2,500 fans attended the races on Closing Night despite temperatures hovering in the upper 30s.

60-year-old Rick Plano topped the driver and trainer standings, the first time such a feat had been accomplished during a full Vernon Downs season since 1989.

Other seasonal highlights included Ron Pierce's dramatic victory in the 6^th Annual Drivers' Championship, held at Vernon Downs for the first time. On that same August afternoon, Hambletonian champion Market Share set a track record while winning the Zweig Memorial and super filly Check Me Out broke her own world record of 1:51.3.

Buffet proceeds to benefit New York Hurricane Sandy victims

Vernon Downs Casino and Hotel is announcing that they will donate all proceeds from Champions Buffet at their property in aid of victims of Hurricane Sandy. Between Sunday, November 11 and Sunday, November 18, Vernon Downs, in conjunction with Tioga Downs Casino, hopes to raise $100,000 to give to the American Red Cross.

During that week, patrons who donate $5 Sunday through Thursday, and those who donate $10 on Friday and Saturday, will receive a FREE buffet. Patrons are also encouraged to donate additional funds above $5 and $10, as Chairman of American Racing and Entertainment Jeff Gural will generously match the additional donations up to $50 per person.

According to Mr. Gural, "I think everyone here knows how devastating floods can be and we hope to do our share to help our neighbors along the shore and also give our customers a bargain as well."

The Veterans Day Program and Buffet Special previously scheduled for November 12 at Vernon Downs will be rescheduled to November 26.

For more information, go to vernondowns.com, or visit us on Facebook.

Plano completes historic double at Vernon Downs

Rick Plano has proven once again that even in harness racing, age is only a number.

The 60-year-old native of nearby Frankfort, New York earned leading driver and trainer honors at the recently concluded Vernon Downs meet to become the first horseman since Del Richards in 1989 to sweep both categories during a full racing season.

Plano recorded 159 driving wins, 62 more than his closest pursuer.  He added 78 training tallies, three more than two-time defending champion Tracy Brainard.

 

"You always set out with goals but you don't say you want to be the leading trainer or leading driver," said Plano. "It's a prestigious thing and anybody that says it's not probably isn't telling the truth."

Plano missed the opening week of the Vernon Downs season but made an immediate impact when he arrived; winning four races his first night, one of six grand slams in 2012. He also recorded six wins on a single card in October.

"It obviously takes good horses to be the top guy," said Plano. "I drive for a lot of good stables and I have a good stable of my own. But the reality of it is the older you get the more you take care of yourself."

For Plano, that includes a daily workout routine he's sworn by for decades. The 25-minute regimen includes 250 sit-ups and some light dumbbell exercises. All of it keeps Plano in top physical shape while competing on a nightly basis against competitors who are frequently half his age.

"There's nothing to it," said Plano. "My wife is a workout gal herself. She tells me I don't do the crunches right but finally she gave in and said it works for me so that's good enough."

Plano posted his 6,000^th career driving win earlier in the Vernon Downs season and has career purse earnings of more than $39 million since recording his first win in 1977.

He'll spend the winter hoping to continue piling up wins at Pompano Park in south Florida.

2012 season concludes

Tioga Thunder set a track record for trotters racing 7/8ths-of-a-mile clockwise during Saturday night's 13-race card as Vernon Downs completed its 59^th season.

Competing in Saturday's second race, a “Turn Back The Clock Rewind Race,” Tioga Thunder had owner and trainer Adam Capizzano at the controls as he went right to the front at the start and wired seven other practitioners of the diagonal stride, stopping the timer in 1:45.3.  The previous 1:47 record for this event and gait had been established by Famous Image last year.

Two other 7/8ths-mile rewind races were conducted during the track's 90^th program, both on the pace.  Dunkirk Beach missed the pacing standard for this event by one tick of the timer with his 1:42.4 performance in race eight, while Mata Harry posted a 1:44.2 clocking in race four.

Drivers Chris Lems, Jonathan Roberts, Roman Lopez, Lewayne Miller, trainer Lonny Hale, plus owners Dr. Michael J. Kessler and the Speed To Burn Racing Stable were each credited with a pair of victories during Saturday's action.

The 14-year-old campaigners Crowbar Hotel, owned by trainer Gene Denney and his wife, Lynne, and Camviction, registered to trainer Lynn Whitmer and her husband, Charles, Jr., were recognized in retirement ceremonies after the second and eighth events, respectively.  The trotter Crowbar Hotel is a career winner of more than $106,000, while the home-bred pacer Camviction has recorded earnings of nearly $75,000.

Twelve different track records were set or tied during the April 27-Nov. 3 meeting, with the fastest pacing mile a 1:48.3 sizzler turned in by He's Gorgeous on May 19.  The fastest trotting mile was a 1:51.2 effort by Hot Shot Blue Chip on Sept. 7 in the Credit Winner Open trot.

The winningest pacer at the meet was Steuben Ruthless with eight first-place finishes, while the top trotter in tallies was Whispur with seven scores.

Rick Plano, who was the runner-up in both driving and training here last season, ended up finishing first in both categories this season.  The 60-year-old horsemen won 159 races and chalked up 78 conditioning credits.  The Frankfort-native led in driving doubles with 18, triples with 16, four-win program with six, tied Jim Morrill, Jr. in five-win performances with two, and joined Morrill, Jr. and Tim Tetrick as the only reinsmen to hit the six-win mark during the meet.

Provisional pilots Josh Kinney and Michael Miller tied at six for top honors in that developing category.

More than 1,100 miles in 2:00 or faster were recorded during the season, raising the track's all-time total to 22,785.

"We would like to thank all of our customers and the horsemen who help support Vernon Downs racing year after year, and we look forward to seeing all of them again next season," said Jason M. Settlemoir, VP of Racing and Simulcast.

DOWNS DOINGS—Additional information regarding Vernon Downs, its casino, hotel, racing and promotional events can be obtained at www.vernondowns.com.