October 14, 2009 - by Bill MacDonald - Scarborough Downs management invited all concerned horsemen to a meeting today to discuss Scarborough Down's draft proposal for 2010 race dates. Mike Sweeney, Bill Manning and Ed McCall addressed the horsemen, who numbered over 100. Scarborough Downs President Sharon Terry attended the meeting also, as did Denise Terry, Martina Mitchell, Susan Higgins and Steve Cobbett from the management team

The 2010 dates are a decrease in dates from 2009. The most notable item missing is racing in January as the track has done in the last two years. April 10th will be opening day with racing on Saturday and Sunday. Horsemen voiced their concerns to the management team who listened and responded. "We were looking to adjust the schedule a little bit to have an opportunity to race on some more profitable days, try to keep the dash level as high as we could so (the horsemen) could get a chance to race as often as you can." said Sweeney. "We are increasing the number of dashes on the weekends. Those are the times when more people come to the track and the handle will be a little bit better."

The MHHA stated that there will be a special meeting held by its membership next week in Augusta to also discuss 2010 race dates.

The complete draft schedule can be seen below. We have also included Bangor Raceway's draft schedule for 2010 which is also looking at a decrease in days.

2010 Scarborough Downs Proposed Race Dates

2010 Bangor Raceway Proposed Race Dates