81 horses get set for first races at Hollywood Mahoning Valley on Monday

Staff report

AUSTINTOWN

The horses are here and it’s time for racing to begin Monday at Hollywood Gaming at Mahoning Valley Race Course.

The first race is set for 12:45 p.m.

Hollywood Gaming will feature thoroughbred racing on its 1-mile track Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays over the winter racing season beginning today. Those races will all be in the afternoon, mostly beginning between 12:30 and 1 p.m. The minimum bet for a live race is $2.

The only days regularly scheduled for racing to not have live races from now until Jan. 1 for this season are holiday-related: Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve.

Many Penn National Gaming Inc. and Austintown Township and Mahoning County officials will be on hand during Monday’s festivities. There are eight races scheduled for each race day at Hollywood Gaming, with six substitute races in case one of those eight cannot sufficiently fill with a desired amount of horses.

Applications for the races are due a few days in advance so that track officials can determine if a race needs to be switched out. If a race is switched for a substitute race, those purses are generally lower, Hollywood Gaming racing secretary Ed Vomacka said.

The races, however, have been filling up.

Monday’s races have a total of 81 horses set to go. Vomacka explained that five of those races have 12 horses signed up and there are two six-horse fields and one nine-horse field. There will be 28 minutes between each race, for the track to be reset for the next race. He said the last race will be 4 p.m. on most race days.

As far as last week’s inclement weather, Vomacka said, “In a way it was a blessing to let us know what we need to do with the weather ahead.”

Read the full story Monday in The Vindicator and on Vindy.com.