Harness racing to resume Monday at Meadows

Editor’s note: This story has been updated.
After a three-month hiatus, the racetrack at The Meadows Racetrack & Casino will resume operations Monday.
“It’s been a long, tough road for our horsemen. We’re very happy to be back racing,” said Kim Hankins, executive director of the Meadows Standardbred Owners Association, which promotes harness racing at the track in North Strabane Township.
Post time will be 12:45 p.m. Monday, six days after the casino opened for business. Gov. Tom Wolf shut down racetracks and gaming sites statewide in mid-March, as the COVID-19 outbreak was gaining momentum, after determining they were not life-sustaining businesses.
Racing will be on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays into September, when Fridays will displace Saturdays on the schedule. The change to a 12:45 start, Hankins said, was made to limit simulcast competition. Simulcast, he explained, “is the biggest part of the handle,” from which horsemen, drivers, trainers and owners “make the majority of their money.”
“We’re trying to be the first track to wager that day, which I think is the smart thing,” said Dave Palone, the biggest winner among North American harness drivers.
The road – make that the track – back to racing was long, according to Hankins. “I thought we should have been been back racing a few weeks ago, but we have to go with what the state Health Department says.”
“I think we should have been out there sooner,” Palone said. “I respect being in a pandemic mode, but I think a lot of money was left on the table.
“We could have handled protocols, practiced social distancing. They’ve been racing in Ohio and upstate New York. I raced in Cleveland the other night.”
The Health Department had to establish protocols for racing, which Hankins said took time. He said his association, the state Harness Racing Commission and Meadows officials had engaged in talks about returning. Approvals of MSOA and racing commission protocols at 8 p.m. Wednesday put racing here back on track.
“I’d like to thank the horsemen for being patient, Tony Salerno of the racing commission and Meadows management for getting us back to racing,” Hankins said.
Palone, the celebrated driver, said: “Everybody is happy to get back and be behind the starting gate.”