Tioga tourney starts June 3

Tioga Downs has announced the new Rags to Riches Series, a $100,000 (est.) event for $10,000 claimers, which will mirror the elimination style of the NCAA basketball tournaments. Tioga is trying to capture the excitement the tournament creates, and insert it into harness racing. As is the case with the NCAA tournament, 81 horses start the first week and are then pared to 36, and then down to 18 before the final week, where only nine will stand with a chance in the $100,000 (est.) race.

Jeff Gural, chairman of American Racing and Entertainment, was the mind behind the Rags to Riches late-closer, as Tioga continues to try to find new and inventive racing series.

There will be three legs, each escalating in purse -- first leg $7,500, second leg $8,500, and third leg $10,000 -- while declining in horses. Each week, only the top-few finishers will move on to the next round. To be eligible to the new series, a horse must show one start in a $10,000 claimer or less between April 15, 2007 and May 27, 2007.

The first bracket of the Rags to Riches “tourney” will be raced on Sunday, June 3 at Tioga Downs. The second round “quarterfinals” will be decided on Sunday, June 10, at Tioga Downs, with the top-four finishers advancing, along with the two fastest fifth place finishers -- subject to change based on the amount of entries in the series.

The “semifinals” will card two fields of nine pacers that will battle around the five-eighths mile track in Nichols, N.Y. to decide the finalists. The top-four finishers in each division, along with the fastest fifth place finisher, will get a chance at the $100,000 (est.) final on Sunday, June 24, 2007 at Tioga Downs.

“This series has created quite a bit of buzz through out North America. Having a $10,000 claimer being able to race for an estimated $100,000 final is a fantastic deal,” Jason Settlemoir, vice president of racing and simulcast said. (Tioga Downs press release)

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