Friday, August 29, 2008

Calder Amends Live Schedule to Continue Four-Day Racing Weeks Through Mid-November

Miami Gardens, Fla. (Aug. 28, 2008) – Calder Race Course has amended its 2008 schedule and will conduct four-day live racing weeks instead of its original five-day schedule from September through the middle of November. Florida’s Division of Pari-Mutuel Wagering granted its approval for Calder’s request on Thursday afternoon. The track will remain open seven days each week for full-card simulcasting.

The change is a result of the combination of a challenging overall economy, lower than anticipated business levels due to the unavailability of Calder's signal in the simulcast market earlier this year, and the continued unavailability of Calder’s races to advance deposit wagering (ADW) platforms.

During the month of August, the track presented live racing four days a week as part of its original schedule.


“Our hope is that with one less live racing day each week, Calder will be able to offer fuller fields on its programs and attract players back to our product there,” said Kevin Flanery, senior vice president of Churchill Downs Incorporated, Calder’s parent company.

A total of 11 live racing days will be removed from the schedule: Sept. 4, 8, 15, 22, 29; Oct. 6, 16, 20, 27; and Nov. 3 and 17. With the change of dates in October, the opening day of the Tropical Meet has been moved from Oct. 20 to Oct. 23.

Calder will maintain its live race days on Labor Day (Sept. 1), Columbus Day (Oct. 13), and both Monday, Nov. 10 and the following day, Veterans Day, Nov. 11.

Comments (0)