Hoosier’s February opening part of strategic changes to racing calendar

by James Platz

The 33rd season of harness racing kicks off Thursday evening (Feb. 12) at Harrah’s Hoosier Park Racing & Casino. The Anderson, IN oval has traditionally opened its 160-day meet in mid-March, but Gabe Prewitt, the track’s vice president and general manager of racing, said the move to an earlier start is strategic.

“We tried to place those 160 days about as strategically as we could,” said Prewitt. “We’re just trying to beef up all 160 nights. Last year we probably had 140 good ones and 20 bad ones. The way I put together the schedule, I was trying to have 160 good ones. We’ll see if it works. I really think we’re going to knock it out of here as long as we have the horses to kind of get this thing off the ground.”

Prewitt, now in his second season at the helm, has reason to be optimistic. Last season, wagering on the Hoosier Park product skyrocketed 30 per cent year over year, eclipsing $130 million in total handle. While that is a tough number to match, he feels there are opportunities to further maximize Hoosier Park’s signal beginning with the placement of race dates.

Starting the meet in February, Prewitt hopes to take advantage of less competition in the simulcast space, as well as getting a foothold early. He said the move is similar to the track moving up post time from 6 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. during the meet last season.

“As we move into the spring, more and more signals are coming on board,” he said. “I think it’s great to get the jump. It’s really a similar thought process that we took in moving the post time up last year. We sort of wanted to get out there in front of everybody. That’s the key component. I think a lot of that is just getting out there early and getting our brand back out there and our feet in the water.”

The meet begins with seven weeks of programs held each Thursday and Friday before expanding into a Wednesday, Thursday, Friday format in April. Prewitt explained that while he doesn’t like to abandon Saturday cards, the track did well on Thursdays last season. With Woodbine Mohawk Park swapping Thursday racing for Sundays, he believes there is opportunity to further capitalize.

“I just think it’ll be a major win because even last year, as good as Thursdays were, they were probably still our best night, but every single Thursday last year we went up against either Mohawk, or there at the end Meadowlands even added Thursdays in November,” he said. “So there was never a Thursday where we were sort of the lead pony, and you know, we will be from day one.”

Some of the schedule adjustments have been prompted by what Prewitt learned on the job last season. Better understanding Indiana’s horse population, as well as the demand for horses in the region – between Oak Grove and Ohio tracks – has led to further strategic changes. Hoosier Park will offer four days of racing from May until mid-June (Wednesday – Saturday), then the track expands to a five-day week (adding Tuesdays) that will carry through the month of September. This coincides with the Indiana Sires Stakes schedule.

“We’re lucky to have a great breeding program with Indiana,” Prewitt said. “The number of young horses even shocked me. When the sire stakes started we just had a good bulk of those. I was worried we were so short when we opened last year, but it was great to see when the 3-year-olds came back. They gave us a nice boost last year, and when the 2-year-olds started, that gave us a huge boost.”

Last month at the Indiana awards banquet Prewitt alluded to having a few more tricks up his sleeve. While he didn’t offer any specifics, the racing executive said that projects are in progress for the 2026 meet.

“We’ve got a couple projects we’re working on to really upgrade the broadcast,” he said. “I wouldn’t say it’s in its infancy. We’re mid-field right now, but I’d rather discuss it more when we’re in the red zone. There are a couple things that I think are going to come about even as we march forward through this meet.”

Looking forward to this Thursday, Prewitt said his biggest concern is with the entry box. Harsh weather in the Midwest has made the task of getting horses ready to race difficult. He was encouraged by recent qualifiers held at Hoosier Park.

“I was pretty encouraged we had 87 in the box for qualifiers Saturday morning,” he said. “I said we needed at least 80 if not 100, to give us a shot for this double draw on Monday.”

Not resting on the success of last year, Prewitt’s objective is to build on the momentum of 2025.

“We’ve definitely hit the home run,” he said. “Now we’ve got to look for doubles, maybe a triple or single. We’re constantly looking for ways to improve it and the main thing is, you just have to win every year. You have to find a way to be up. That’s how we keep score and, you know, if I don’t beat last year’s number, I’m not happy. I’m just competitive like that.”