Columbus, OH (USTA) — The Grand Circuit will make 20 stops during its 2004 racing season according to the schedule announced today by G.C. President Tom Thomson.

The only change in membership from the 2003 season is that Northfield Park has elected to withdraw from the Circuit. Their mid-July dates will be filled by Scioto Downs, which has moved from their traditional mid-June dates. The only other major change in the schedule has Balmoral Park shifting their dates from late August to late October-early November, just before Maywood Park’s fall dates.

The Grand Circuit has been in existence since 1871, when representatives from three racetracks in different states met to create a racing circuit. The first campaign for the Grand Circuit took place in 1873, when four tracks offered $169,300 in purses. From those humble beginnings, the Grand Circuit has blossomed into a yearly showcase of the finest two and three-year-old harness horses competing in North America, with purses now totaling many millions of dollars at racetracks and fairs in many areas of the continent.

The complete 2004 schedule for the Grand Circuit is as follows.