The first day of harness racing at the Shenandoah County Fair is tomorrow — Wednesday August 31 — when an 8 race program of non-betting events goes to post at 1:00 PM.
A pace for non-winners of $2500 in their last 5 starts kicks off the program. A field of 8 will line up behind the gate including Vertigo Hanover, a Henry Lewis trainee who won at the Oak Ridge meet last year in 1:59 2/5 and at Colonial Downs in ’14 in 1:51 2/5. The 9 year old son of The Panderosa, who has… earned over $360,000, will be driven Chuck Perry.
The field for races one, two & three will come back and compete respectively in traces six, seven and eight. Purses for each race are $500. Details on the fields can be seen at www.ustrotting.com under the “Entries” link for Fair races.
Fair racing continues every day through September 3rd, then the Shenandoah Downs pari-mutuel meet kicks off September 10th and continues for 5 straight weekends. Opening weekend, on the 10th and 11th, features free admission, a food truck festival and free $2 bet vouchers to the first 500 fans (18 & older) each day. The $320,000 Virginia Breeders Championships will take place over those two days as well. There will be four $40,000 races each afternoon featuring the top Commonwealth-bred 2 and 3 year old pacers & trotters of both sexes.
For more details, visit shenandoahdowns.com and virginiahorseracing.com
