Tioga removes dates due to horse shortage

Nichols, NY – Tioga Downs is announcing a reduction in the 2022 live harness racing calendar due to a shortage of overnight horses.

Racing originally scheduled for this Friday, June 3 has been cancelled. Live racing will be held this week on Saturday, June 4 and Sunday, June 5.

For the remainder of the 2022 season, Tioga will race two live cards per week and add a third live card on those weeks that include a NYSS event, pending regulatory approval. There are no changes to the NYSS schedule of races at Tioga Downs.

The Southern Tier Harness Horseman’s Association is in agreement with the revision to the schedule, recognizing the lack of horses to sustain the three days per week schedule.

Tioga Downs VP of Racing Jason Settlemoir had this observation on the development, “It’s becoming very apparent the horse shortage that Jeff Gural and I have spoken about for years is indeed real and wreaking havoc on the entry boxes in our sport.”

The following dates have been deleted from the 2022 live schedule:
Friday, June 3; Friday, June 10; Friday, June 17; Saturday, July 2 (racing live on Monday, July 4); Friday, July 8; Friday, July 29; Friday, August 5

For the next few weeks the draw schedule will be Wednesday for Saturday and Thursday for Sunday with a box close of 9AM. Post time remains 6:15 on Saturday and 1:00 on Sunday. Check the weekly condition sheets for changes on those weeks that a third day is added to the schedule for NYSS.

The updated calendar will be available on the Tioga Horseperson’s page of the website.

by Nick Salvi, for Tioga Downs