Hawthorne Racecourse (2/19/12)
Contact: Jim Miller
(708) 780-3700
Ten starters per race average at Hawthorne
What a way to start out our meet! The weather has been tremendous, the track has been in great shape and our horsemen have responded by filling the entry box to the tune of 10 starters per race over the first two racing days. Combine that with improved and enhanced TV coverage in-house and via TVG and we have seen two days of significant handle increases to open the meet. We thank our fans for their support as we opened up Friday with and increase of nearly $300,000 in handle and the Saturday card posted an increase of over $700,000 from the corresponding date in 2011. Here’s hoping the weather holds out as entries continue to be strong and we have had great racing to open the 2012 spring meet!
On the Saturday card, jockey Florent Geroux was the star as he closed out the day riding home the Late Pick 3. This past fall’s leading rider, Geroux has gotten off to a hot start, winning aboard Cocky Bull (7th), Signsealndeliver (8th), and old warrior Gato’s Pirate (9th). The last two wins came for fall meet leading trainer Roger Brueggemann as he has gotten off to a fine start as well. Also on the day, Constantino Roman had a riding double and a pair of Frank Kirby trainees won as well.
The track played evenly with horses winning from all points in the pack. With the warmer temps, we will be able to put water on the track again today which should lead to an even track once again. Today is a tough card with a lot of full fields and there looks to be quite a bit of value.
A reminder, our online Survivor contest begins next Friday as someone will take home the top prize of $2,500. The contest is free to sign up for at Hawthorneracecourse.com and is easy to play.
Another gorgeous day with only a few early changes:
Today’s Early Scratches
Main Track – Fast
Race 5
Scratch #7 – Great Bam
Race 7
#8 – Jockey – U. Lopez
Scratch - #13 – Gentle Lana
Scratch #14 – Darlin’ Diane
Race 8
#1a – Jockey – O. Mojica
Race 9
Scratch #4 – Royal Renaissance
Scratch #7 – Julie Bugs
Scratch #13 – Haley’s Vow
Scratch #14 – Wildly Lana
