Harrah’s Hoosier Park Racing & Casino announced on Tuesday, April 16 the return of First Turn Stable, a fractional ownership opportunity, for its ninth season in 2024.
The first of its kind in the state of Indiana, First Turn Stable was designed to provide fans an easy and affordable way to experience the excitement of horse ownership and educate for future ownership endeavours. Hoosier Park will begin taking new membership sign-ups throughout the early portion of the 2024 season, which kicked off on March 22.
First Turn Stable gives racing fans a chance to learn about horse ownership first-hand. The fractional ownership program, established in 2016, gives harness racing fans hands-on ownership experience for a one-time $250 buy-in.
First Turn Stable will welcome a new trainer for the 2024 racing season with Patrizio Ancora taking the reins. While Ancora may be a relatively new name to the Indiana circuit, he has decades of racing experience to his credit. After getting his start as a trainer and driver in Italy, Ancora made the move to the United States, where he worked for a number of years as a second trainer for one of the top racing operations in North America, Lindy Farms. Since starting his own stable in 2021, Ancora enters 2024 off of a personal best season in his young training career in 2023. Ancora batted at .205 on the year in 2023, notching 10 wins in 108 starts as a trainer, nearly doubled from the 57 starts made in 2022. Ancora is already well on pace towards another career year, batting at .493 in 2024, already visiting the winner’s circle 12 times in 32 starts this season. The Ancora stable is headlined by Upnaway Blue Chip, a four-year-old gelded son of Chapter Seven-Noreaster Bluechip. He's won four of his first five starts since joining the Ancora stable, banking $35,225 already for his four-year-old campaign. Ancora will look to make the first claim of the season for First Turn Stable in the coming weeks and get its 2024 campaign underway.
The program provides interactive social media pages, weekly e-mail updates and monthly financials that will be shared with members to provide a transparent and behind-the-scenes look into the real cost of owning a racehorse. Members can also enjoy scheduled group visits to the Ancora stable, located on property at Hoosier Park, to visit, receive updates and meet the stable’s horses.
At the end of the racing season, the horse’s winnings and costs will be calculated and any profit will be split amongst the group’s owners. If the season results in a financial loss, Hoosier Park will offset the figure to bring the season to a breakeven for the participants. Guests must be Indiana residents and at least 18 years of age to participate in First Turn Stable.
For more information on First Turn Stable membership, guests are encouraged to reach out to Taylor Owen at [email protected] or at 765-609-4620. Guests can also check out the First Turn Stable Facebook Page for updates as soon as it has its first horse for 2024. For more information on the 2024 live racing season, guests are encouraged to visit harrahshoosierpark.com.
(Hoosier Park; Photo of a group from the 2017 First Turn Stable with Gs High Shooter in the Hoosier winner's circle)