from Hollywood Gaming Dayton Raceway

Dayton, OH — Hollywood Gaming Dayton Raceway opened the gates to its brand new five-eighths-mile oval on Monday morning (Sept. 22) and two dozen local horses and their trainers were invited to get their first glimpse of the racing surface.

Hollywood Gaming Dayton Raceway photo

Noble Commander and trainer Sam Coven were the first tandem ever on the new Hollywood Dayton Raceway surface.

Trainer Sam Coven and his pacer Noble Commander were the first to step foot on the track at 9:05 a.m. and by 12 noon all 24 horses had either jogged or trained, including a couple reported training miles under 2:00. Both the racing surface and the adjacent paddock received unanimous praise from everyone involved in the special morning session.

Next Monday (Sept. 29) Hollywood Dayton Raceway will conduct a “dress rehearsal” night of qualifying races with post time scheduled for 7 p.m. Entries for the qualifying races are due by 2 p.m. this Friday afternoon (Sept. 26) by either calling the race office (937.235.7860 between 12 noon and 2 p.m.) or by entering through the USTA’s new Online Entry platform.

Opening night of the 56-program meet is Friday (Oct. 3) with the track’s regular 6:35 p.m. post time. Racing will be conducted four nights a week the first two weeks (Friday, Saturday, Wednesday and Thursday) will Mondays added the third week.

Condition sheets for the first week are currently available on the USTA website.

Trainers will be required to fill out Ship-In Applications and Waiver of Liability forms prior to opening night. They will be available at the track’s website (www.hollywooddaytonraceway.com) within the next few days.