(WOODSTOCK, VA — 2/24/20) —- Dates for the fifth season of pari-mutuel harness racing at Virginia’s Shenandoah Downs are all set for 2020. The fall meet will begin on September 18 and continue thru October 17 with racing every Friday at 3:30 PM and Saturday at 2 PM. A special card will also be held on Sunday October 4 at 2 PM. Dates are pending approval of the Virginia Racing Commission.
Friday’s popular happy hour programs will run from 3:30 – 6:30 PM and feature $1 draft beer, $1 hot dogs and karaoke in the party tent. Saturdays will feature promotions like “Pink Power” Breast Cancer Awareness Day, the Wiener Dog Derby, Grateful Dead Day with a Shenandoah Downs tie dye t-shirt giveaway, and the Shenandoah County Chamber of Commerce’s annual Autumnfest celebration. The Virginia Harness Horse Association will also sponsor three separate “Own a Horse for a Day” promotions where fans get a chance to “own” a horse for the afternoon and share in the winnings from a $4,000 purse.
Virginia Breeder’s events will be held on three consecutive Saturdays to kick off the fall meet. Prep and elimination races for three-year-old pacers and trotters of both sexes will be part of the September 19 card while two-year-olds will battle a week later on September 26. Champions Day, when over $300,000 in purse monies are distributed, will be held October 3 in conjunction with Autumnfest, which attracts the largest crowd of the meet.
Parking and admission will again be free and the races are family friendly. Shenandoah Downs is located in Woodstock at the Shenandoah County Fairgrounds at Exit 283 off I-81. Woodstock is halfway between Harrisonburg and Winchester. For more details and updates throughout the year, visit shenandoahdowns.com.
