Portland Meadows gains recognition with bonus program

By: SPORTS NETWORK

 

Portland, OR (Sports Network) - Little known Portland Meadows will gain some rare notoriety with the advent of the new Black-Eyed Susan 2.2 program. The track's first ever running of the $80,000 Portland Meadows Oaks has been included in the endeavor.

"Portland Meadows is very excited to be a part of the Black-Eyed Susan 2.2 bonus program," Director of Racing Jerry Kohls said. "This stakes schedule will be our richest in recent memory with the addition of the $80,000 Portland Meadows Oaks."

The winner of the inaugural running of the Portland Meadows Oak for three- year-old fillies will also qualify for the Black-Eyed Susan 2.2 if it goes on to win the Santa Anita Oaks and Gulfstream Park Oaks.

The bonus program would award $2 million to the winning owner of the Black- Eyed Susan Stakes and $200,000 to the victorious trainer. The winning filly must qualify by capturing a series of preliminary stakes, which the Portland Meadows Oaks is one.

The one-mile Oaks will be run on January 29, 2011 during a special Saturday afternoon program.

Portland Meadows' 2010-2011 racing season gets under way on October 4 and runs through March 30, 2011.

The one-mile oval opened on September 14, 1946 and became the first thoroughbred track in the United States to conduct night racing.