Race week in Prineville
Published 12:00 am Wednesday, July 9, 2014
- Andy Tullis / The BulletinA horse and rider, left, practice, while a water truck sprays out water to keep the tilled track moist at the Crook County Fairgrounds horse track in Prineville on Tuesday.
Race fever is about to hit Prineville. The Crooked River Roundup horse races kick off Wednesday, July 9 at the Crook County Fairgrounds. Race organizers expect a full field of horses for the four-day event, a Prineville staple for the past 47 years.
“We’ll have 225 to 250 horses from California, Oregon, Washington and Idaho,” says Dean Noyes, president of the Crooked River Roundup board of directors. “The entire Northwest is represented.”
New to this year’s event will be three monster televisions — 7 feet by 7 feet — two of which will be located in the infield and the third behind the fairgrounds’ grandstand.
“It’s a huge investment by the board,” says Bryan Iverson, the CRR’s marketing director. “But it should be pretty cool. Being able to replay races, it’s the big thing in rodeos and on the race circuit these days.
“We’re trying to increase the user experience,” Iverson adds. “If people can’t make it from the beer garden to the race, we’ll bring the race to the beer garden.”
The gates open at 6 each night, and racing is scheduled to begin at 7:15 p.m. Also new for 2014 is a betting class for novice race fans. Each race day at 6 p.m., CRR organizers will host a free 30-minute session on horse race betting at the Oregon State University Extension Service building next to the fairgrounds.
Pari-mutuel betting is a primary attraction at the horse races.
“We’ll run through the program and give general betting tips of what to look for,” Iverson says of the class. “For a new bettor, it’ll be a great 20 or 30 minutes of learning the basics and knowing what to look for.”
Organizers expect to hold eight races Wednesday and Thursday, and 10 races are scheduled for both Friday and Saturday nights. Admission is $5 each evening and comes with a race program. All races will have a minimum purse of $2,300. Thee Jack Rhoden Memorial Bonus Challenge and its $15,000 in winnings Saturday night highlight the race schedule.
Additionally, horse and jockey numbers look especially strong based on races at the Eastern Oregon Livestock Show in Union and the Grants Pass Downs last month. Deeper pools of horses and riders make or a better gambling experience, according to Iverson.
“If one jockey’s dominating the field, it’s not good for fans,” Iverson says. “I’d rather see a lot more 3-to-1 spreads across the field than one (jockey) at 6-to-5 odds and the rest of the field at 8-to-1 and 20-to-1 odds. It’s just better for betting and cheering on different jockeys and horses.”
Weather permitting, the CRR horse races expect to see between 8,000 and 10,000 racing fans pass through the fairgrounds this week.
“This is a great event that brings a lot of people in the Northwest to Prineville,” Noyes says. “This sport is what this town was built on way back in the 19th century.”
—Reporter: 541-383-0305; beastes@bendbulletin.com.