by Scott Ehrlich, publicity, Cal-Expo

Sacramento, CA — Fresh off the good news of the first million dollar handle ($1,009,204) for the current fall meet this past Friday night (Nov. 21), the California Exposition & State Fair (Cal-Expo) announced its 2009 harness dates.

“We are pleased to announce that Cal-Expo will continue to offer harness racing in 2009,” said Dave Elliott, Assistant General Manager and Director of Racing for Cal-Expo. “In addition to us closing out the year with racing on Friday, December 26, and Saturday, December 27, we will also be offering 148 cards of harness racing next year.

“Our plans are now to increase our weekly cards from three to four nights per week in January, and continue that schedule through April, all with the hopes that there are enough horses to keep the cards filled. And given the amount of horses in the box over the last month, which has resulted in more races per card, one would think we should be able to fill those cards.”

Listed below are the 2009 harness dates for Cal-Expo:

2009-January through August-108 Days/September through December–38 Days
January: 1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 9, 10, 14, 15, 16, 17, 22, 23, 24, 28, 29, 30, 31.
February: 4, 5, 6, 7, 11, 12, 13, 14, 19, 20, 21, 25, 26, 27, 28.
March: 4, 5, 6, 7, 11, 12, 13, 14, 18, 19, 20, 21, 25, 26, 27, 28.
April: 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, 10, 11, 15, 16, 17, 18, 22, 23, 24, 25, 29, 30.
May: 1, 2, 7, 8, 9, 14, 15, 16, 21, 22, 23, 28, 29, 30.
June: 4, 5, 6, 11, 12, 13, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, 27.
July: 1, 2, 3, 9, 10, 11, 16, 17, 18, 23, 24, 25, 30, 31.
August 1.
September: 25, 26.
October: 1, 2, 3, 8, 9, 10, 15, 16, 17, 22, 23, 24, 29, 30, 31.
November: 5, 6, 7, 12, 13, 14, 19, 20, 21, 25, 27, 28.
December: 3, 4, 5, 10, 11, 12, 17, 18, 19.

“The Cal-Expo horsemen have done a fine job of supporting racing here at Cal-Expo. In addition to them being enthusiastic about entering their horses, a good deal of our owners and trainers have purchased or claimed horses from outside California to not only race here, but to benefit our Fall Incentive Program, which continues through December 20. With that continued support from our horsemen, I’m very optimistic about the future of harness racing here at Cal-Expo,” concluded Elliott.