Goshen, NY — As America celebrates its birthday weekend, the grand daddy of racetracks, Goshen Historic Track, kicks off its three-day Grand Circuit meet Saturday (July 1) with a nice assembly of nine races, highlighted by four $20,000 New York Sire Stake Excelsior events for 3-year-old colt and filly pacers.

The town of Goshen prepares for months for Great American Weekend, a fabulous array of markets, crafts and rides throughout the town, with the highlight being the annual Grand Circuit race meet. This year the meet will be shortened to three days but there is no lack of talent that will be on display.

Longtime Goshen Historic Track resident Ray Schnittker is loaded for bear going into this 2023 meet and starts off opening day with eight equine athletes going behind the gate for his greatly talented stable. Ray looks forward to this meet every year as his barn is often very dominant. Ray also is extremely hospitable to all that come visit his barn.

Saturday also plays host to four divisions of Landmark Stakes for 3-year-old pacers and trotters. These fields are highlighted with a contingent of horses from the local training center of Mark Ford. Ford sends out two horses in these races including Pembroke Southie and Pembroke Moni. Corey Stratton’s powerful stable also sends out a pair of starters including the Stratton Stable owned We Shall Sea, a recent well placed finisher at Yonkers.

The C.K.G. Billings series also makes a stop at Historic Track Saturday with a steady five horse field of trotters. The Billings series is one in which amateur drivers can race against each other in one mile dashes.

The Billings is one of the original clubs for amateur drivers in what has become a revolutionizing way for tracks to fill their race cards and for fans to enjoy a different aspect of racing. These events have been well received throughout the country.

Saturday’s event is highlighted by the Tom Merton trained P C Foreign Affair, to be steered by Robert Ciavardini, coming off some nice races in the Open ranks at Monticello Raceway. He seems like the horse to beat.

Historic Track opens the admission gates at 11 a.m. each race day with first race post being 1 p.m. Admission is $5 per person and kids under 12 will be admitted for free. Tickets are available for purchase at the gate. Food is also available for purchase under the grandstand.