2011 Thistledown Season
The Ohio Derby will be held on 4 June 2011. This will be the 77th time that the race will be held. It has a colorful history, with the race being in inaugurated in 1876 but cancelled in 1882. It was brought back in 1924, and was won by the legendary Black Gold. It is now held at the Thistledown Racecourse, in Ohio, and is a Grade III race for horses that are three-years-old. Hosted on a dirt track, the race covers a distance of one and 1/16 miles, and has a purse amount of $100 000. Although the race is some time away, trainers are already preparing for this event and the excitement is mounting around the new Thistledown Season.
Thistledown Racecourse is gearing up for a bumper live horse racing season, with the Ohio Derby being one of seventeen stakes races that will be hosted at the racecourse. The first stakes race will be held on 30 April (Classen Memorial), followed by the Rowland Memorial (28 May), Angenora Stakes (30 May), Ohio Derby (4 June), Petro Memorial (18 June), Cleveland Gold Cup (2 July), Lewis Memorial (16 July), Cleveland Kindergarten (6 August), Honey Jay Stakes (20 August0, Miss Ohio Stakes (27 August), Rose DeBartolo Memorial (3 September) and the Governor’s Buckeye Cup (10 September). On the 15th of October, the racecourse will be hosting the Best Of Ohio, which is a popular event as it features all the best horses of the state participating in various races throughout the day. Some of the races include the Best of Ohio Sprint, Best of Ohio Endurance, the Best of Ohio Distaff, Juvenile Stakes and the John W Galbreath.
The entire season will consist of one hundred and twenty-two days of racing, with the track closing on 5 November 2011. For the first part of the season, racing will take place on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, with Thursday being added from 7 September 2011. With Caesars Entertainment as the new owners of Thistledown Racecourse, a few things might have changed, but what has remained is most important – a season filled with exciting and thrilling live horse racing.
