BISMARCK, N.D. (KFGO) – The North Dakota Racing Commission meets Thursday and will decide the schedule for the 2021 race dates at the North Dakota Horse Park in Fargo.
Jack Schulz, the Executive Director of the North Dakota Racing Commission, says he will recommend approval of four weekends of racing in July at the Fargo track. He says Horse Park North Dakota, which operates the track requested the dates.
Schulz says four weekends of racing will draw larger purse funds, more horses, and more people.
Schultz says the racing commission approved four weekends of racing for the 2020 season at the Fargo track but operators decided to hold only two weekends of races because of uncertainties, including the impact COVID-19 could have. Schulz says the races were a success. More than three-thousand people were at the races. He says attendance would have been higher but stormy weather on the first night of the races caused the track to shut down early.
Race dates at Chippewa Downs in Belcourt will also be determined Thursday. The track operators asked for five weekends of horse racing in 2021 but Schulz says he’ll recommend four weekends to the racing commission.
