Ohio Thoroughbred Racing News

The Ohio HBPA and Mahoning Valley track management have reached agreement on make up dates for the six racing programs lost thus far in 2018 due to inclement weather and adverse track conditions. The following Fridays will be added to the winter-spring meeting schedule Friday, March 2nd, Friday, March 16th and Friday, March 30th. The other additional racing programs will be added to the end of the meet and are Monday, April 23rd, Tuesday, April…

After a meeting between several Ohio HBPA board members and members of Mahoning Valley Race Course management live racing has been cancelled at Mahoning Valley for Saturday, January 20th due to adverse track conditions. The members participating in the meeting walked the track and it was determined that there are still icy patches on the racing surface caused by heavy rain last Friday morning which preceded a 30 degree temperature drop followed by  over 8…

Live racing has been cancelled at Mahoning Valley on both Tuesday, January 16th and Wednesday, January 17th due to inclement weather and adverse track conditions.   The track will be open during regular training hours both days to allow horsemen to get their horses out of the stalls to stretch their legs. Training should be limited to jogging only due to current track conditions.   Live racing will resume at Mahoning Valley Race Course this…

Mahoning Valley Race Course, in cooperation with the Ohio HBPA, announced a 5-7% purse increase to be effective January 2, 2018. Purses for maiden special weights will increase from $21,000 to $22,100 and allowance races will be as high as $29,000 up from their current $27,500. “Thanks to increased handle and continued strong support of the VLT operation, we can pass along some of these increases to the participating horsemen,” said Ed Vomacka, racing secretary…

Belterra Park hosted the Best of Ohio series on a warm partly cloudy day in Cincinnati on Saturday, October 7th. The Best of Ohio series consists of five stakes races each worth $150,000 for Ohio-breds. Missap kicked off the stakes action scoring an easy five length gate to wire victory in the $150,000 John W. Galbreath Memorial for Ohio-bred 2-year-old fillies. Jockey Dean Sarvis expertly rated Missap through a slow opening half before drawing away…

Thanks to the generosity of a former Ohio HBPA board member, the Ohio HBPA is proud to partner with Ohio University in offering a terrific scholarship opportunity for sons and daughters of Ohio trainers. The scholarship will include full tuition, room and board at Ohio University and is renewable for 4 years. Eligibility requirements include being the son of daughter of a trainer who has been licensed for at least five years and is currently…

Hollywood Gaming at Mahoning Valley Race Course, announced today an across the board purse increase beginning with Condition Book #2, which starts Monday, January 30. The increase of 5% will take the daily purse distribution to an unprecedented level for the facility, which began live thoroughbred racing in November, 2014. Mark Loewe, Vice-President of Ohio Racing for Penn Gaming, and Dave Basler, Executive Director of the OHBPA, jointly announced their thanks for the continued support…

The OHBPA board of directors held a special election on November 10th to fill two vacancies on the board in the trainer or owner/trainer category. Elected to serve 4-year terms retroactive to September, 2016 were Bobby Cline and Doug Cowans. Don Radcliff will serve as the alternate in the trainer or owner/trainer category for the next two years.

The Ohio HBPA has announced the following results from its Board of Directors election. There were 192 ballots cast. Trainer/ Owner-Trainer Category Robin Schuster – 137 votes Owner Only Category Jeff Jarvis – 106 votes Kristina Tumblin – 103 votes Mark Kuntz – 98 votes Bonnie Rogoff – 82 votes The top three vote getters in the Owner Only Category will be seated on the board. The fourth-place vote getter will serve as the Owner…