from Running Aces Harness Park

Columbus, MN — Just two weeks remain to apply for stalls for the 2012 Running Aces Harness Park summer meet. Opening night is Wednesday (June 6) with racing continuing on a four nights a week schedule through a special Labor Day program on Monday (September 3).

Live programs will be presented every Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday nights during the three-month meet. Post time will be 7 p.m. every night except Sundays, which will feature an earlier 6 p.m. starting time and additional races.

The purse pool budget for 2012 will be significantly higher for the fifth consecutive season.

“The current purse pool projection calls for an average of $42,000 to be available for each scheduled race date, plus the earmarked Minnesota-sired supplement funds of approximately $230,000 for the season,” reports Director of Racing Gregg Keidel. “That represents a better than 16 percent increase over the $36,000 per program that was budgeted for 2011. Plus, we have the added benefit of knowing that racing can continue uninterrupted this season, unlike last year when a state of Minnesota two-year government budget impasse caused a three-week delay in racing in the middle of the meet. We anticipate building on the momentum we’ve gathered the first four years at Running Aces and kicking the excitement and competition up another notch in 2012.”

Eight late closing series have been scheduled at Running Aces with the deadline for nominating to the first three being June 6.

The first qualifying races of the season are scheduled for Saturdays, May 26 and June 2, at 11 a.m.

All horses entering the grounds at Running Aces must have a negative coggins test within 12 months and proof of a EHV-l vaccination within six months. No piroplasmosis test is necessary unless a horse is coming from a state with a recent confirmed case (just Texas as of March 31).

Deadline for stall applications is April 15, with the stall allocation to be announced April 30. Applications are available on the track’s website (www.runningacesharness.com), under the racing/racing resources tab.