PACERS TO RACE ON THE TURF AT ROCKINGHAM
PARK ON SATURDAY
SALEM, NH-- Following the smashing success of
trotters racing on the grass course at Rockingham Park last Saturday, the pacers
will take center stage and try the turf this coming Saturday (August 8) at the
venerable 103-year-old racetrack.
Rockingham raced harness horses on the turf course,
which heretofore had always been the exclusive domain of the Thoroughbreds, for
the first time in its history on August 1st and the pair of trotting races was
only the sixth time that standardbreds had raced on the grass at any track
in North America. All of the races were contested at the standard distance
of one mile.
While turf racing at various
distances is an every day occurrance for Thoroughbreds at tracks all across
America, it is an anomoly for
standardbreds, which race on their preferred main track surface of crushed
limestone. The other grass races for standardbreds were held at Indiana Downs on October 29, 2005
and on October 10, 2006 and
then at The Meadowlands on July 24th, 2009.
Rockingham will card one or two grass races for
pacers on Saturday, weather permitting, and the fields
will drawn this Wednesday.
Also on Saturday, the track will giveaway a custom
designed Rockingham Park hat to every paid admission over 18 while supplies
last. Racing fans can watch and wager on the Hambletonian, which is the most
prestigious and coveted leg of the trotting Triple Crown for
three-year-olds, as well as the prestigious Thoroughbred racing at Saratoga and
other tracks around the country. Post time is 1:05 PM.
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