by Nick Salvi, for Tioga and Vernon Downs

Nichols, NY — The 2011 stakes season at Tioga and Vernon Downs has something to offer everyone, from the top older horses in the game to early lessons for freshman trotters in the Kindergarten Classic.

Stakes racing begins with the John Simpson Memorials for 3-year-olds, which have been positioned in mid-May as a prep for the Empire Breeders Classics.

The $1 million Empire Breeders Classics are offered at both tracks over Memorial Day weekend. Restricted to New York bred sophomores, the EBC also signals the start to the lucrative NYSS season. The trotters will have eliminations on May 21 and a $250,000 (est.) final for each sex on Monday, May 30, at Vernon Downs. The pacers will race at Tioga, elims on Sunday, May 22, and the $250,000 (est.) finals on the next Sunday (May 29).

The excitement builds in June when the promise of riches brings the best older horses in the sport to Tioga Downs. The $200,000 (est.) Bettor’s Delight (open) and $200,000 (est.) Artiscape (mares) will make Tioga the center of the harness racing universe on Sunday, June 12.

Shark Gesture set the all-age track record of 1:48.3f in the inaugural Bettor’s Delight last season, while recently crowned Canadian Horse of the Year Dreamfair Eternal posted the first sub-1:50 mile in Tioga history (1:49.4f) in the 2010 Artiscape.

Just a week later, the top older trotting mares will make their annual appearance at Tioga Downs for the $25,000 first leg of the popular Miss Versatility series.

Tioga and Vernon will host the tradition laden Historic Stakes ($600,000 est.) for the first time in 2011. The 3-year-old trots will be held on Saturday, June 25, and the 3-year-old pacers will come a week later on Saturday, July 2. Both sets of sophomore races are at Tioga. The payments for those events remain with the Hambletonian Society.

The Grand Circuit rolls into Tioga with the time-honored Tompkins-Geers stakes ($600,000 est.) scheduled for July 14-18. The Tompkins-Geers series has served some of the game’s top stakes outfits as a solid place to start their prized freshmen in anticipation of rich summer stakes.

The best harness drivers in the world will convene at Tioga Downs to participate in the 2011 World Driving Championship. Tioga will host a leg of this prestigious event on Monday, August 1.

Sunday, August 28, promises to be the highlight of the season at Tioga as, for the first time, the Tioga Drivers’ Championship will be contested on the same card with the $500,000 Zweig Memorial (Open and Filly divisions). The lure of the rich Zweig trots and the ever increasing popularity among the drivers of the Tioga tryst should insure a bang up afternoon at the Nichols, N.Y. venue.

Thing heat up at Vernon as the Tioga season draws to a close in September.

Friday, September 2, will bring the very best trotters in the world to Vernon Downs for the $200,000 (est.) Credit Winner (open) and newly christened $200,000 (est.) Muscle Hill (mares). That evening will be enhanced with all 2-year-old divisions of the Historic Stakes.

Vernon hosts the third leg of the Miss Versatility a week later on September 9, with the $100,000 (est.) final of the Miss V staged on the Delaware, Ohio strip as a part of the Jug Day program.

As the leaves fall in central N.Y., the sport’s top freshmen will travel to Vernon for the 2-year-old divisions of the Simpson Memorial stakes on October 14 and 15.

Some of those trotting fillies and colts will stay for the last leg of the popular Kindergarten Classic series on October 21, hoping to secure a spot in the $150,000 (est.) final the following Friday (October 28). Just last season, the Kindergarten graduating class included the Breeders Crown 2-year-old colt trot winner, Manofmanymissions, who began his career in the series.

The Red Mile will host two legs of the Kindergarten in 2011, scheduled in September to provide timely racing opportunities for the youngsters.

Information on all of the above races, including nomination forms and racing schedules may be accessed at this link.