Opening Night and Downes at the Downs!

The NEW Indiana Downs is set to open for the Thoroughbred ONLY meet in Indiana Tuesday night under the new ownership of Centaur Holdings.

Though you might not notice it when you walk into the facility, change is definitely in the air.

Since Centaur finalized the purchase of Indiana Downs on February 20th, several improvements have been made to make Indiana Downs a legitimate race track and a power in the Midwest.

Indiana Downs hired Kevin Greely as Director of Racing. Greely has served as the racing secretary at Hoosier Park for the past 3 seasons. Greely is also the assistant racing secretary at Gulfstream Park. In the past Greely has served on the North American Racing Committee, which assigns an international handicap rating to all horse racing in stakes over $75,000 or more in North America. In the past he also served as racing secretary for Emirates Racing Association/ Dubai Racing Club in Dubai, United Emirates. 

Kevin Greely brings positive change to Indiana Downs with holding a level of accountability towards the quality of racing and management.

Say goodbye to Zooming BY and hello to Downes at the Downs. On March 26, General Manager John Schuster announced Bill Downes as the new Voice of Indiana Downs. Downes brings a level of professionalism to the track announcer position.  Downes has over 20 years of experience as a track announcer, and has recently served as the voice of Ellis Park and Beulah Park. He’s also called racing at River Downs and Presque Isle. The Marquette grad and avid college basketball enthusiast will be providing handicapping information as well as hosting the pre-race show.  The track has lacked a strong voice and handicapping presence in the past, Bill brings both of those attributes to Indiana Downs.

Horse Player Now takes over as the morning line odds maker giving an expert line to the Indiana Downs racing program.  

Hoosier Park track superintendent Johnnie Jamison takes over as track superintendent at Indiana Downs. I made a trip out to Shelbyville this past Saturday for some simulcast excitement and while I was down there I stepped outside and was blown away with how well the turf course looked. Jamison has definitely been working hard to insure great track conditions.

The 120 day meet will still have some of the familiar faces when it comes to racing. Tom Amoss invades the Hoosier state once again while trying to three-peat as champion trainer. Leandro Goncalves will be splitting time at Indiana Downs while also riding in Kentucky at Churchill Downs.  Hunt and Smith Ventures look to have a strong hold on owner’s title at Indiana Downs and they will be back once again to their crown.

Tuesday’s opening night card (6:00 first post) features 12 competitive races (10 thoroughbred, 2 quarter horse.) Throughout the year I will be offering my plays of the day for several of the racing cards at Indiana Downs, I will also be posting my record.

My opening night “play of the day” comes in the 2^nd race, a 6 furlong sprint for fillies and mares 3 years old and up who have never won 3 races with a claiming price of $8,000. #4 Toe Tappin Teddy is 8-1 on the morning line. The Put It Back mare offers great value and comes into the race off a bullet 47.1 workout at Churchill Downs. The Vickie Foley trainee runs well fresh and has a lot of tactical speed. Look for this one to be on or near the lead and draw off late.  My bet will be a 10 dollar Win, Place, Show ticket.  Let’s make some money!