Eclipse Award-Winning HRRN to Again Serve as Exclusive Radio Home of the Charles Town Classic & Penn Gaming Racing Challenge
Wyomissing, PA (February 8, 2016) – Beginning with the $1,250,000 Charles Town Classic (G2) at Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races on April 23, Horse Racing Radio Network (“HRRN”) - the Eclipse Award-winning broadcast organization based in Lexington, Kentucky - will once again serve as the exclusive radio home for 5 of the remaining events in the 2016 Penn Gaming Racing Challenge. In addition to Charles Town Classic day, the HRRN team will provide coverage of Penn National’s Penn Mile card on June 4, the Race for the Ribbon program at Charles Town on September 17 as well as Zia Park’s Land of Enchantment day and Penn’s Thanksgiving Eve Racing Festival, both of which are scheduled to take place on November 23.
Much as it has the previous three years, HRRN’s live Charles Town Classic and Penn Mile coverage will originate on site and can be heard nationwide on SiriusXM and will be available worldwide via live streaming on the HRRN website, www.horseracingradio.net. Additional information along with specific broadcast times and channels will be announced prior to April 23.
“HRRN has become the premier provider of radio coverage for racing’s biggest events including the Triple Crown and Breeders’ Cup,” said Erich Zimny, Charles Town’s Vice President of Racing Operations. “Our partnership has worked great for both parties we’re looking forward to not only continuing it throughout 2016, but also having them on site for the broadcasts of both the Charles Town Classic and Penn Mile.”
HRRN’s award-winning broadcast team will be anchored by HRRN President, Mike Penna.
“The Penn Gaming Racing Challenge has quickly developed into one of the most successful race series in the sport today,” said Penna. “The races attract the upper echelon of owners, trainers and horses from across the country and continue to generate tremendous national interest. The series is a wonderful fit with our extensive race coverage schedule and we are proud to provide the exclusive coverage.”
The Charles Town Classic, which stands as the country’s co-richest race outside of the Triple Crown and Breeders’ Cup, will be one of 13 races on April 23 and serves as the feature on a card that includes the $150,000 Sugar Maple presented by CANTER Mid-Atlantic, the $100,000 Robert Hilton Memorial and a quartet of West Virginia bred stakes. The Charles Town Classic card will be held during the day for the second consecutive year and carries a first race post of 12:45pm EST.
On June 4, the fourth running of another of the Penn Gaming Racing Challenge Series’ five graded races – the Grade 3, $500,000 Penn Mile – takes center stage. The Penn Mile, which achieved graded status for 2015 in its first year of eligibility headlines a card that also includes the $200,000 Mountainview Handicap, $200,000 Penn Oaks and $150,000 Pennsylvania Governor’s Cup. The first three Penn Mile cards, also covered by HRRN, are responsible for the three largest single card handles in track history with the third edition kicking off at Penn’s standard first post of 6:00pm EST.
On September 17, Charles Town offers up the Race for the Ribbon, headlined by the track’s second graded race – the $350,000 Charles Town Oaks (G3). The Oaks is joined by the $100,000 Wild & Wonderful and Pink Ribbon as well as three WV bred stakes in advance of the West Virginia Breeders’ Classics on October 8.
The final two events in the Penn Gaming Racing Challenge are currently scheduled for November 25. On its fourth Land of Enchantment card, Zia Park will play host to the fourth running of the $300,000 Zia Park Oaks as well as the $200,000 Zia Park Derby. Following the races in New Mexico, Penn National takes the spotlight with its Thanksgiving Eve Racing Festival featuring the $200,000 Fabulous Strike Handicap in addition to the $100,000 Swatara.
The Penn Gaming Racing Challenge kicked off this past month with the first graded running of the Houston Ladies Classic at Sam Houston and binds 7 different events through points awarded to owners, trainers and jockeys based on their participation and results in addition to containing other incentives for the connections of horses participating in multiple series races. The Penn Gaming Racing Challenge ultimately rewards the winners of the year-long series with a waiver of stakes fees at Penn Gaming tracks for an entire year as well as a trip to the Penn National Gaming owned M Resort in Las Vegas. In 2015, Fox Hill Farms took the title as leading owner in the series, while Mike Maker and Javier Castellano walked away with the leading trainer and jockey crowns.
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About Penn National Gaming, Inc.
Penn National Gaming, Inc. (PNGI), is the largest operator of racetracks in North America, operating 12 pari-mutuel facilities in ten different states, including thoroughbred tracks Hollywood Gaming at Mahoning Valley Race Course, Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races, Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course, Sam Houston Race Park, and Zia Park Casino, Hotel and Racetrack and Casino. PNGI’s portfolio also includes five off-track wagering locations plus eBet USA and WinLine, both regional Advance Deposit Wagering services. In 2014, PNGI racing pari-mutuel properties conducted nearly 1,200 live racing dates and processed more than $1 billion in on-track, import and export wagering. Penn National Gaming is also one of North America’s leading gaming companies with 20 casinos. For more information, visit http://www.pngaming.com/
About HRRN
The Horse Racing Radio Network is the Eclipse Award-winning broadcast organization, providing live radio coverage of many of the sport’s biggest races throughout the year. In 2015, HRRN will broadcast more than 100 stakes races from racetracks across the country, and is the exclusive radio network of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Breeders’ Cup World Championships and provides the national radio broadcast of all three Triple Crown events.
In addition, HRRN produces HRRNLive! every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. A 4-hour show airing from 3-7 p.m. ET on SiriusXM and streamed on the HRRN website. The show features racing coverage from across the country along with exclusive talk shows each day from 6-7 p.m. ET.
Listeners can also tune in to HRRN’s Equine Forum Show from 8-10 a.m. ET every Saturday morning on SiriusXM, select HRRN affiliates and streaming/podcast on the HRRN website.
For more information visit horseracingradio.net, follow on Twitter @HRRN and like “Horse Racing Radio Network” on facebook.