Indiana Grand Racing & Casino received approval for 2021 racing dates Thursday, Dec. 10 at the monthly Indiana Horse Racing Commission (IHRC) meeting held at Indiana Grand. The schedule will offer 120 days of Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse racing beginning Tuesday, April 13 and running through Thursday, Nov. 4, 2021.
Racing will start off with a hybrid schedule of Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday racing in April moving to the full schedule of Monday through Thursday in May. Post times of 2:25 p.m. will be held Monday through Wednesday while Thursdays will adopt a post time of 3:25 p.m.
“We worked off our successful schedule from 2020 in cooperation with our horsemen's groups to determine the best possible days of the week for racing for both Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse racing,” said Eric Halstrom, vice president and general manager of racing. “We feel we have found our niche during the week in those mid-afternoon start times. By moving Thursdays an hour later, we hope to attract the after-work crowd, which allows us to hold some fun events for the on-track racing guests and also puts us in an even better spot on the national simulcasting scene.”
A total of eight Saturdays will also be included on the schedule with Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse racing held on Saturday, May 1, which is Kentucky Derby Day, and Saturday, Oct. 30, which will be Indiana Champions Day. Post time for the two Saturdays featuring Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse racing is set for 12 p.m.
Six All-Quarter Horse days have been allotted throughout the meet. Dates set exclusively for the sprinters include Saturday, June 5, Saturday, July 3, Saturday, July 24, Saturday, Aug. 14, Saturday, Sept. 4 and Saturday, Oct. 9. Post times for the All-Quarter Horse dates is set for 10 a.m.
“We identified an opportunity to get our Quarter Horse signal out to more racing fans on Saturday mornings,” added Halstrom. “We saw tremendous growth in handle during this time and also saw good on-track crowds. We anticipate seeing even more growth for handle and on-track attendances for Quarter Horse racing in 2021.”
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