Poor track shuts Northville

After poor racetrack conditions forced the three-day shutdown of Northville Downs, including the revocation of simulcast rights by the Office of Michigan Racing Commissioner, the track in suburban Detroit is scheduled to re-open Monday night pending a hearing at the commission office earlier in the day.



The track opened its fall meet Monday, Oct. 18, and horsemen reportedly were dissatisfied with the surface condition. Despite work being done on the track during the off day on Wednesday, Oct. 20, racing was canceled following the first race on the Thursday night program. The subsequent two nights of racing were also scrapped, with the track also having to shut its simulcast operations down as well.



"The horsemen were upset because we hadn't had bad weather and the track should have been in decent condition," Michigan Harness Horsemen's Association general manager Larry Mallar told The Horseman Monday morning.



Mallar said track specialist Chuck Coon was called in to help the track crew late last week and he expects that after today's meeting that racing would likely resume tonight.



Eliminations for the Michigan Pari-Mutuel for 4-year-old horse and gelding trotters and 4-year-old pacing mares, which were scheduled to be raced last Friday and Saturday, respectively, have now been rescheduled for Friday, Nov. 5, and Saturday, Nov. 6, respectively, with the finals the following weekend.

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