Live racing returns to Austintown racino today

By ROBERT CONNELLY

rconnelly@vindy.com

AUSTINTOWN

Live horse racing returns at 12:45 p.m. today to Hollywood Gaming at Mahoning Valley Race Course.

The race course had more interest from both horsemen and jockeys for the second season of racing at the Austintown facility.

The reason is twofold: increased purses at the track; and Mountaineer Casino, Racetrack & Resort in Chester, W.Va., already closing down for the year.

“With western Pennsylvania and West Virginia, we’re kind of the only game in town – and it’s a good place to be,” said Mark Loewe, Penn National vice president of Ohio racing. Hollywood Gaming has “a lot of entries and a lot of full fields. I think opening day we got two 10s, four 12s.” That means two races with 10 horses, and four races with 12-horse fields.

“Really full fields which is what you want,” he added.

There is a limit on horsemen who can fill the 988 stalls at the track. That’s because the Ohio Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association and the track agreed that 80 percent of stalls go to horsemen who consistently have run in the state in the last year.

“I gave most of those guys preference, preferably guys that ran with me all year last year, but you always want to get new outfits in here,” said Ed Vomacka, Hollywood Gaming racing secretary.

Vomacka said he gave about 900 of the 988 stalls to horsemen who consistently ran in Ohio last year and also gave some to Canadian trainers and some West Virginia horsemen.

There were 2,100 stalls applied for, and six trainers have 30 or more horses stabled.

“I expect us to do much better than we did last year,” Vomacka said. “I’m even surprised by the amount of entries we have so far.”

Elliot Sullivan, a horse trainer from Berlin Center, has 36 stalls this year, double the amount he had last year when he finished second in the trainer standings to Jeff Radosevich.

Mountaineer’s early closing “didn’t affect me really that much. I know it affected some people, but I know it flooded the entries here,” Sullivan said. “I think everybody’s pretty optimistic. The purses have increased here about 30 percent. For me, it’s nice to be back home.”

Live racing takes place Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays at the Austintown track. The first race time is 12:45 p.m. most days, and on Saturday it will be 12:35 p.m. due to the Breeders’ Cup Classic running that night.