Tioga wraps up second annual "Scholarship Race"

Tioga Downs hosted its second annual "Scholarship Race" on Sunday afternoon for four local area high school students.

Participants included Matt Bailey from Vestal High School; Courtney Coomds from Newark Valley High School; Rebecca Conrad from Union-Endicott High School; and Miranda Beeman from Waverly High School.

Each participant got hands-on training from some of the Tioga Downs trainers for three weeks leading up to the event.

The race on Sunday afternoon was contested at the distance of five-eighths of a mile with each of the drivers and students in a double seated jog cart.

Leaving from post position number one, Rebecca Conrad and Fern Paquet Jr. took control of the lead and never let go, winning the $3,000 top prize.

Courtney Coomds and Ed Hensley used a first-over move to secure second and a $2,000 scholarship, Miranda Beeman and Jason Macdougal got up for third to secure $1,500 while Matt Bailey and Tim Lanpher rounded out the four finishers and still took home $1,000.

The Scholarship Race was featured in this week's episode of Inside Harness Racing on Time Warner Cable Sports. The Scholarship Race feature comes in at the 10:14 mark.


Tioga Downs would like to thank its partners in the event: the Southern Tier Harness Horsemen's Association, the Harness Horse Breeders of New York State and all the trainers and owners for supporting a great race.

Tioga Downs continues live racing on Friday, June 17 with a post time of 6:50 pm and will feature its first edition of Race N Rock with a Rascal Flatts tribute band immediately following live racing.

On Sunday, June 19, Tioga Downs will host the first leg of the Miss Versatility trotting series for older open trotting mares with a post time of 1:30 pm.

For more information on Tioga Downs please visit us online at www.tiogadowns.com.