Dayton, OH — Hollywood Gaming at Dayton Raceway is busily preparing for its sixth season of live harness racing action. The 78-day schedule is set to commence on Monday (Sept. 9) with a 2:15 p.m. matinee program and end Saturday night (Dec. 28).

The normal five-days-a-week schedule will be Monday and Tuesday matinees at 2:15 p.m. coupled with Thursday, Friday and Saturday evening racing beginning at 6:15 p.m. The only exceptions will be dark days Sept. 16-19 (in deference to Little Brown Jug week at the Delaware, Ohio fairgrounds), additional Sunday matinees on Sept. 29 (Buckeye Stallion Series championships) and Oct. 13 (Ohio County Fair finals), and racing on Wednesday (Nov. 27) instead of Thanksgiving on Thursday (Nov. 28).

New Director of Racing Jason Bluhm is optimistic that the 2019 season will be a big hit with both horsemen and patrons.

“We have added an aggressive line-up of promotions and giveaways in hopes of generating new fans and luring old ones back to the track,” he noted. “Plus, in the past month we’ve worked diligently — with the help of noted trackman Jimmy Shelton — to reshape and resurface the racetrack to its original specifications. We’ve restored the 12 percent banking on both turns as well as accomplished the desired consistent base all the way around the five-eighths-mile oval.”

The highlight of the meet will be the sixth renewal of the Dayton Pacing Derby and Dayton Trotting Derby on Friday (Sept. 27). The $150,000 races have annually attracted the best horses and drivers in North America to Dayton Raceway.

The list of eligible horses to the Dayton Pacing Derby includes ten that have earned more than $1 million. Among the notables are Lather Up, McWicked, This Is The Plan, 2018 Little Brown Jug winner Courtly Choice and defending champion Donttellmeagain.

The Dayton Trotting Derby nominees include a half dozen million dollar winners, including Crystal Fashion, Marion Marauder and Homicide Hunter, plus Guardian Angel AS.

“I expect another stellar season,” said Race Secretary Gregg Keidel. “We have been blessed with adequate horse supply and full fields in the past and expect more of the same in 2019. I expect all of our top ten drivers to return, giving us one of the deepest and most talented colonies in the sport. The addition of the Buckeye Stallion Series championships and the Ohio County Fair finals on a pair of special new Sunday matinees should add excitement to our program. With our outstanding paddock and a complete reconditioning of our track surface, which looks great, I think Dayton is “the place to race” for the next months.’

Hollywood Dayton Raceway will conduct a pre-meet session of qualifying races on Tuesday (Sept. 3) at 1 p.m. Trainers are asked to enter by Friday (Aug. 30) at 1 p.m.

Condition sheets for the initial week of racing will be posted soon.