Presque Isle Downs' high-stakes masters, mile races return Monday. Who are the favorites?
By several measures, this season has already been a success.
Presque Isle Downs hopes that continues on Monday when the venue hosts its premier thoroughbred horse racing event of 2023.
Monday’s 12-horse Presque Isle Downs Masters race features a $300,000 purse and $150,000 will be at stake in the nine-horse Presque Isle Downs Mile. The track implemented schedule changes before this season, and judging by key numerical indicators, they’ve been well-received.
How has this season compared to recent?
Horse count and export handle are up from last year, said Matt Ennis, the downs’ director of finance and director of racing. That includes a 3% increase in total starts and 3% increase in starts per race.
From May: What's new in horse racing at Preque Isle Downs for 2023?
The course moved post times back from 1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. for this season and condensed its schedule by 20 race dates. Those changes have captured the attention of more bettors, Ennis said, and produced larger race fields.
“Minimizing the number of race days has to do with the industry we’re in and having adequate horse population to fill our fields,” Ennis said. “Everyone wants a large field size, and to compress the number of days to allow for larger field size is attractive to the average bettor.”
A similar strategy was deployed in extending this year’s meet schedule from Oct. 19 to Oct. 26. The track was set to race Monday-Thursday starting Aug. 7, but canceled Thursday dates on Aug. 24, Aug. 31, Sept. 7 and Sept. 14 to allow an additional week of racing Oct. 19-23.
“With our (horse) population, we looked at other tracks and who was racing — our sister property Colonial Downs (of New Kent, Virginia) just wrapped up their season and we’re anticipating a slight influx of horses from that track,” Ennis said. “Running four days per week (at that time) was difficult for us, that’s why we moved those four days to the end of the meet, where we feel we will have additional horse population on our backside, allowing for better field sizes.”
Which jockeys, trainers and horses have won the most this year?
Nice Ace is the downs’ current top-earning horse of 2023, totaling $139,200 in four starts so far, according to data at equibase.com. Rusty My Brother has won $86,410 in six starts and Captain Courtney has won $79,200 in two starts.
Horses trained by Tim Girten, including Nice Ace, have won a track-high $723,755 and have won 23% of their starts. Ron G. Potts is second among trainers in total earnings at $488,350, and his horses win 20% of starts, whereas Eduardo E. Rojas’ horses, whose $475,430 in earnings are third-most, win 26% of starts.
Pablo Morales leads all jockeys with $1,643,255 in winnings and boasts a 27% win rate. Sajor Stable has been this year’s top ownership group, winning $310,705, while Rice Racing is runner-up at $303,610 and the team of Gerald E. Brooks and Carl. L. Hess, Jr. are third with $274,835.
Who is favored in Monday’s high-stakes races?
Monday’s featured purses are smaller than last year, a change which Ennis said diverts some money toward regularly scheduled, overnight purses, from which local horsemen benefit. The Presque Isle Downs Masters is down from $400,000 last year and Presque Isle Downs Mile down from $200,000.
The masters event, comprised of fillies and mares, will feature Pennsylvania-bred Roses for Debra, a Christopher Clement-trained horse and seven-time race winner who is a likely favorite. Other notable entries in the six-and-one-half furlongs race include five-time stakes winner Marissa’s Lady, which will be manned by Morales, and the Florida-bred Loyalty.
The mile will feature colts and geldings, including Woodslane Farm’s Wolfie’s Dynaghost, a three-for-four lifetime winner.
Monday’s first post time is 3 p.m. The mile will post at 4:48 p.m. and the masters at 5:42 p.m., two of nine scheduled races. More information, including full lineups, live betting odds and jockey assignments, can be found on the equibase.com site.
Look back: Presque Isle Downs & Casino earns more racing revenue in 2022 despite fewer horses
Other sports: Stay up to date on District 10 football with analysis, rankings, statistics, more during 2023 season
Contact Jeff Uveino at juveino@timesnews.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter,@realjuveino.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Presque Isle Downs preps for premier race day amidst successful '23 meet
