Fort Washington, MD --- Preparations continue for the Rosecroft Raceway Winter-Spring 2012 meet, set to begin on March 10 with a new 7:25 p.m. post time.
Applications for racing privileges at Rosecroft are now available at this link. A total of 25 race cards will be contested through June 2.
Pre-meet qualifying races will be held Saturday (Feb. 25) and Friday (March 2) at 11 a.m. Entries will be taken the day prior to each qualifier from 10 a.m. until 12 noon. Entries can be made by calling the Rosecroft race office at 301.567.4401 or 4435.
Once a week training days will be available every Thursday from 8 a.m. to 12 noon starting Feb. 23. Trainers wishing to utilize the track for training on these days should contact the Racing Office by 12 noon on Wednesday. Only trainers who have approved racing applications may utilize the track for training purposes.
Rosecroft will conduct live racing two nights a week -- Tuesday and Saturday evenings. The entry box for Saturday will close on Tuesday at 2 p.m. with scratch time being 12 noon Wednesday. The entry box for Tuesday will close on Thursday at 2 p.m. with scratch time being Friday at 12 noon.
A complete condition sheet will be issued by Feb. 20, but a sneak preview shows that separate classes, entries permitting, will be written for both trotters and pacers covering non-winners of one pari-mutuel race lifetime through non-winners of five pari-mutuel races lifetime. A new class will be added for younger horses that have won over $20,000 lifetime but haven’t won over $50,000 life.
Claiming categories will consist of races for $5,000, $7,000 and $9,000 price levels with some higher claiming tags used as also eligible conditions in upper class condition races. Pacing conditioned races will range from non-winners of $250 last five starts exclusively for Maryland preferred horses with a series of non-winners categories ranging from $750 to $3,500 in the last five starts. With the exception of the non-winners of $250 class, similar conditions on the trotting side will be offered.
Rosecroft will continue its commitment to providing as many racing opportunities as possible for Maryland based owners and horsemen/women. Further information on the preferences and races will be distributed with the first condition sheet.
Qualifying times will be the same as 2011 (2:06 for pacers and 2:08 for trotters with allowances for 2- and 3-year-olds). The 45-day rule will be in effect, except horses that raced at Rosecroft in the month of December 2011 and were not placed on the judges' list will get one start without qualifying.
All racing updates and information on the upcoming live race meeting are available at www.rosecroft.com.