Prairie Meadows is a pedigreed racetrack located in Altoona, Iowa. It is around 5 miles from Des Moines and likewise hosts routine quarter-horse conferences throughout the year.

Meetings are held throughout the summer season months, with action normally occurring between May and October. Racing is held Thursday to Sunday (inclusive), although unique race-days are occasionally held previously in the week.

Along with regular race-days, the track also hosts performances on a semi-regular basis and is home to 1,900 fruit machine, which can be discovered in the on-site gambling establishment. A hotel has also been developed on the complex. Simulcast wagering is likewise now readily available at the track.

The most noteworthy races at the track are theGrade II Cornhusker Handicap, the Grade III Iowa Oaks, and the Iowa Derby. It likewise hosts the Bank of America Challenge Championships each year.

The track is owned and run by Polk County and is run by a not-for-profit board of 13 members, and this has actually stayed in place since it opened in 1989. Revenues from the track are frequently dispersed to different charitable causes and organizations located close by.

Prairie Meadows Racetrack History

Prairie Meadows has a fairly brief history, having just been established in 1989. It first received its license five years previously, which had actually been given by the Iowa Racing and GamingCommission. This came soon after Parimutuel wagering had been legalized in the state simply 12 months previously.

They determined a 240-acre website for building to begin, and $40 million was invested on guaranteeing the track was completed to a high standard.

The inaugural race-day was held on March 1,1989, and although attendance stayed steady over the next couple of years, the track applied for personal bankruptcy in 1991.

Racing was briefly suspended as a result, and no live race meets took location in 1992. However, revenues from off-track wagering began to gradually filter through, and racing was able to continue in the summer of 1993.

Slot machines were set up in 1994, which assisted the track raise extra profits. This allowed the track to settle some arrearages and bonds which had actually been released by the Polk County Board of Supervisors. Casino video games were quickly contributed to the facility in December, following approval from the state. These remained in location up until further expansion 11 years later on.

A dining establishment and auditorium quickly followed, with the venue expanding beyond the standard racetrack.

In 2004, Roses in May set a race record in theCornhusker Handicap with 1:46.63 over a range of 1 1/8 miles.

Fort Larned was the winner of the 2012 Cornhusker Handicap for fitness instructor Ian Wilkes before going on to win at the Breeders' Cup Classic later on that year. The race was held at Santa Anita.

The legalization of sports wagering in Iowa was formally granted in 2019, with the costs being signed at the start of May.This should help increase revenue at the track, with William Hill just recently announced as the official wagering partner of the location. The track reported that $8.5 million of sports wagers were put at the track and casino in 2018.

Prairie Meadows Track Configuration and Bias

The location operates simply a single track, which is a one-mile oval on the dirt surface. There is also a chute, which is utilized in quarter-horse fulfills. The distance from the last turn to the finish line is 1,033 feet.

There is no visible and stable track bias at Prairie Meadows. Every design of racing has a reasonable shot on this track.

Winning Post Position

There was a fairly even spread of winners at Prairie Meadows in both sprints and range contests. Over the much shorter trip,15.6 percent of horses who were made use of the within went into the winner's enclosure. The inside draw showed fairly productive compared to stalls two and 3, which have yielded just 12 and 14.2 percent of winners, respectively, in 2019.

Stall four was the very best position to be drawn, with 18.2 percent of winners originating from this particular starting position.Although less runners were drawn in stall 10, it produced 10.6 percent of winners in sprint races.

Only 34 runners were drawn in stall 9, with just 2 winners produced so far. This corresponds to a 5.9 percent strike rate.

Over the longer journey, stall 7 showed particularly productive, with 4 of the 10 runners drawn in this position finishing in front. This was a captivating 40 percent strike rate.

Stalls one and 5 were also fairly favorable, with 21 percent of winners being drawn in each of these positions. Stalls three and 4 produced relatively solid results (10.5 percent), while just one horse attracted stall 2 has actually gotten in the winner's enclosure up until now.

None of the seven runners that have been attracted stalls nine and 10 have actually managed to pick up a triumph in 2019. The path races have tended to draw in smaller fields at Prairie Meadows.

Prairie Meadows Racing Season

Racing has traditionally taken location atPrairie Meadows throughout the summertime. Currently, racing begins in April and concludes in late October. Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse racing are both held at the track and are periodically staged on the very same card.

Live race-days normally take place onThursday through Sunday and are held in the afternoon.

There are a number of key races taking place at the track, with the Grade II Cornhusker Handicap the standout race. This has actually seen a variety of horses race at the Breeders' Cup later on in the year. It is open to 3-year-olds and is held over 1 1/8 miles. It was originally staged at Ak-Sar-Ben Racetrack, which lay in Nebraska.