Nearly $20 million to be offered to Paints in Oklahoma races
FORT WORTH, TEXAS— Paint Horse racing in Oklahoma during 2008 will be
richer than ever. This year, nearly $20 million will be available at
Oklahoma’s four tracks—Will Rogers Downs, Remington Park, Fair
Meadows and Blue Ribbon Downs.
The state will offer more than 40 graded stakes opportunities for
American Paint Horses, Quarter Horses and Appaloosas. The race season
will kick-off in February at Will Rogers Downs and continue for 198
days.
Will Rogers Downs in Claremore, Okla., will host the first Oklahoma
races for the year, with a 44-day meet running from February 23 to
May 27. Live racing will be held every Saturday, Monday and Tuesday,
with Sunday races on March 23 and May 11. The track will offer at
least one Paint and Appaloosa race each day, including three stakes
races throughout the meet.
Racing at Remington Park in Oklahoma City, will begin on March 7 and
continue through June 1. The track will offer live racing Thursday
through Sunday of each week.
Tulsa, Okla., home of Fair Meadows track, will kick-off mixed breed
racing May 20 to July 26. The 34-day run will host live racing every
week Thursday to Sunday, with special racing on May 20-21 and July
23. Each nightly race will host two Paint and Appaloosa races, with
an anticipated purse of $8,000 in each race.
Blue Ribbon Downs will host two meets in Sallisaw, Okla. The first
meet, in the beginning of March, will host trials for stakes races
that run finals on March 15. The second meet will wrap up Paint
racing in Oklahoma for the year. The 67-day meet runs August 1 to
November 30, with live racing held Friday to Sunday in August and
Friday to Monday for the remainder of the time. Purses at Blue
Ribbons are estimated to be comparable to 2007.
For more information on races offered at these Oklahoma tracks,
please visit www.oklahomaracinginfo.com.
More about Paint Horse racing
Horse racing has long been one of America’s favorite spectator sports. With the recent growth of the Paint Horse breed, it’s no wonder that Paints have become one of the hottest tickets in the horse racing industry.
Since 1966, when APHA officially recognized the sport, Paint racing has made major strides forward. In that inaugural year, 17 starters ran for $1,290 in just two states—Texas and Oklahoma. In 2007, more than 600 starters competed in more than 700 APHA-recognized races for record purses totaling more than $5 million.
A total of 18 states now feature Paint racing, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. Paint Horses also race in Canada.
“Paint Racing continues to be an opportunity for breeders, owners and trainers to take a serious look at,” said APHA Executive Director Lex Smurthwaite. “The amount of purse money available and the average earning per Paint starter is creating new interest in the Paint racing industry.”
For more information on Paint Horse racing, contact APHA’s racing
department at (817) 222-6444, email racing@apha.com, or visit
paintracing.com. |
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