The racing dates for the 21st edition of the Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse race organized at Horseshoe Indianapolis have been approved by Indiana’s Horse Racing Commission during the regular meeting held on 1st December at the Harrah Hoosier Park.
The calendar features a total of 123 racing days, featuring six all-quarter horse racing days in the overall total. Fortunately for Betway punters, odds on all the horse racing events will be available to sports betting enthusiasts.
Among the major changes coming into the 2023 racing calendar is the addition of multiple Saturday dates from 3rd June to 2nd September. Five of these dates are set for Quarter Horse racing, starting with a post time of 10:45 a.m.
Five dates in this timeframe will be set for Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse races, with the first post time of 5:30 p.m. The other dates, 8th July and 26th August will have an early post time of noon. 8th July is the track’s signature competition, the GIII Indiana Derby.
The general horse racing calendar will start with a Monday to Thursday schedule that promises lots of excitement for SA horseracing enthusiasts who bet on races on the Betway sportsbook. However, Monday’s racing was dropped in the summer to give way to Saturday racing.
The schedule is expected to resume its original format in September, running from Monday to Thursday. Besides the Indiana Derby, the fourth Indiana Champions Day will be hosted on Saturday 28th October, and the first post time will be 12:00 p.m. The annual event will feature stakes races worth over $1 million.
Horseshoe Indianapolis is also set to host live racing events on three holidays around the meeting. The races will be hosted on Monday, 29th May, for Memorial day celebrations and Tuesday, 4th July, during Independence day, and the first post time will be noon. There will also be races hosted on Saturday, 2nd September, on Labor Day, including an all-quarter horse race card starting at 10:45 a.m.
A little about the 2022 Season
The 20th season of the Horseshoe Indianapolis Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse Racing competition ended on 23rd November with a healthy outlook. According to horseracing experts, the event recorded around $235 million in signal sales, reporting an increase of 5.2% compared to the figures recorded in 2021. That’s despite holding 27 fewer races than the 2021 edition, resulting in a per-race growth of over 9%.
The $235 million revenue from all sources includes a 6.2% growth reported in on-track betting. According to the event’s general manager and vice president Eric Halstrom, 2022 was a solid season for Horseshoe Indianapolis despite harsh weather conditions that included rain for most of May.
2022 featured 1,192 horse races, averaging 8.06 horses in every race. That was a major improvement from the 2021 season, which averaged 7.35 horses per race. In 2022, the number of starters in Quarter Horse races was also robust, ranging at 9.0 horses per race, while thoroughbred events averaged 7.83. That gives Halstrom and his team enough momentum and incentive heading into the 2023 season.
