Raceway opens on promising note

BANGOR – It was only 18 months ago that the future of Bangor Raceway, and harness racing in Bangor, appeared to be in serious jeopardy.

What a difference a year and a half can make.

Bangor Raceway opens for the 1995 racing season Friday with a 10-race card. Post time is 7 p.m.

Prospects for another solid season appear good, especially after a successful ’94 meet.

“We’re looking at it very optimistically,” said raceway manager Fred Nichols of Bangor Historic Track Inc., the private group that is running Bangor Raceway for the second year. He said the Bass Park oval should be home to harness racing for many years.

Bangor Historic Track pumped almost $60,000 into Bangor Raceway last year, much of it in improvements to the grandstand. With the major capital improvements out of the way, there should be more room for financial gain.

Last year, Bangor Historic Track promised to rekindle interest in eastern Maine harness racing by making significant improvements to Bangor Raceway and introducing a plethora of promotions intended to attract spectators. The racetrack’s attendance rose 20 percent in 1994.

Nichols expects the attendance to remain about the same and explained that if the track’s average handle stays about where it was a year ago, the track will have a good year financially.

It is unknown what effect off-track betting in Bangor might have on the willingness, or ability, of bettors to spend money at Bangor Raceway when its season is underway.

Nichols acknowledged it was much easier selling advertising for racing programs this year, apparently because of the way the Bangor meet was run in 1994. Almost 100 percent of the advertisers in last year’s book renewed for ’95, he said.

Testament to Bangor Raceway’s reputation comes in the form of two special events scheduled there this year. Bangor has been chosen to host the North American Drivers’ Championship on June 11 and the Maine Sire Stakes 2-year-old finals during the September meet.

The threat of harness racing extinction in Bangor, and elsewhere in Maine, appears to have been avoided with help from off-track betting. OTB parlors have made harness racing accessible to fans in several Maine communities, attracting more parimutuel dollars.

The bottom line has been a significant increase in revenue for the industry, a percentage of which goes to Bangor Raceway. The statewide handle increased from $32.5 million in 1993 to $59.5 million last year.

“The reason the handle is up so dramatically is because it’s driven by the success of the OTBs,” Nichols said.

The minimum purse at Bangor, which last year was $700, has risen to $900 for 1995, a healthy 28.6-percent increase. That makes it more profitable for drivers and owners.

One negative trend Bangor Raceway and other tracks across American continue to fight is a shortage of horses.

As was the case a year ago, the supply of horses appears to be the main source of frustration for Bangor Historic Track, as it is elsewhere in the state.

“There are a few more horses than last year, but not as many as we would like,” Nichols said. “There aren’t enough to run any more than 10 races each night, but the supply will increase in a couple weeks.”

There has been a slight increase in the corps of drivers who are calling Bangor their home base for the next two months.