Hollywood Gaming to have outdoor features for Kentucky Derby day

May 2, 2015 at 12:05a.m.

By ROBERT CONNELLY

AUSTINTOWN

A live bluegrass band with an outdoor beer truck and barbecue food will be among the offerings during today’s simulcast of the Kentucky Derby at Hollywood Gaming at Mahoning Valley Race Course.

Sean Patrick and the Newgrass Revolution is set to play from noon to 5 p.m. on the concrete patio between the grandstands and the thoroughbred track, and a beer truck will be set up near the paddock where the horses walked before each race during the live racing season.

Penn National Gaming Inc.’s vice president of Ohio racing, Mark Loewe, detailed those layout plans as well as the ability to place bets today beginning at 10 a.m. at the track, 655 N. Canfield-Niles Road.

He said the first of the races for the Triple Crown will kick off sometime between 6:25 and 6:45 p.m. at Churchill Downs in Lexington, Ky.

“Advance betting is important because it’s going to get crowded,” Loewe said. “We had reserved tables in the dining area and they’re all booked, and all the other seating areas are on a first come, first served basis.”

There will be a ladies’ hat judging competition, with registration from noon to 3 p.m. and judging at 3:20 on the first floor of the grandstand section.

Also planned is a silent auction with four items, all pictures of famous horses signed by an owner or jockey, such as Triple Crown winner Secretariat and California Chrome, last year’s Kentucky Derby winner. Funds from that silent auction will go to benefit a fund for disabled jockeys, Loewe said.

“I think that was part of the excitement of the track coming here” with these big races, said Jim Davis, an Austintown trustee. “[Today] is going to be huge for Hollywood Gaming, and we’re glad it’s a part of the Austintown community now, and who can beat the excitement of the Kentucky Derby right here in Austintown.”

Rembrandt Wright, a horse owner whose has his horses trained in Garrettsville, said he hasn’t been following the contenders for the derby this year as much as in past years.

“It will be a big day for them as far as simulcast handle. It’s the biggest day in the country ... for live handle,” he said. Handle is the listing of all the bets waged at tracks or through off-track betting sites and simulcast bets.

American Pharoah is the betting-line favorite heading into today at 5-2 odds.