Indiana's Ewart to retire

Indiana Downs' Director of Racing Jim Ewart will call it a career later this summer. Ewart, who has been involved in harness racing in one facet or another since 1959, will work in the Indiana Downs race office for the first few weeks of the meet, which begins in July, and then turn over the lines. He will turn 67 in May and will celebrate 25 years of marriage to his wife, Sandy, in August.



"It's time to get back to the homestead. I'd like to take my wife on a nice vacation," Ewart said. "I've seen a lot of places, worked a lot of nights. It's nice to be a part of something new as you wind up your career. It's time, you know."



Ewart will be replaced by Scott Peine, who currently works at Balmoral Park. Peine, a 2002 graduate of the University of Louisville's Equine Administration program, has also served in positions at Hawthorne Racecourse, Scioto Downs, Prairie Meadows and the Delaware County Fair. His father, Jeff, was a trainer on the Chicago circuit for 15 years.



Ewart will assist with the transition before focusing his attention on his family, which includes six grandchildren. He has worked in the Indiana Downs race office since the facility opened in December 2002, and counts the track as one of 17 where he has served.



"I'm glad to leave it in capable hands, in young hands," Ewart said of the track's harness program and of Peine.

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