EAST BOSTON — Suffolk Downs will host the third live racing and food truck festival weekend of the summer this weekend.
The $75,000 Steve Pini Memorial Stakes will highlight the eleven-race card Saturday.
Also on Saturday, local racing fans will have the opportunity to purchase a commemorative racing program and receive a limited edition Suffolk Downs baseball cap while supplies last. All proceeds will go to the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund.
Longtime Suffolk Downs-based trainers Jay Bernardini, Karl Grusmark and Brenda McCarthy as well as prominent national outfits including Christophe Clement, Bill Mott and Nick Zito have entered for the weekend’s races.
The $75,000 Steve Pini Memorial Stakes is restricted to fillies and mares and is scheduled to be run at a mile and seventy yards on the turf. The black-type race has drawn a field of ten with an additional contender listed as also-eligible. The field includes Puca, a four-year-old daughter of Big Brown who competed in both the 2014 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) and the 2013 Kentucky Oaks (G1).
In addition to the Steve Pini Memorial Stakes, Saturday’s card will include six turf races.
Over the course of the weekend, there will be two stakes races restricted to either horses foaled in Massachusetts or sired by a Massachusetts-based stallion. Each offers a purse of $50,000 and is a showcase for the Massachusetts Thoroughbred breeding industry.
There will be many familiar faces taking part in the opening card including popular local jockeys David Amiss, the leading rider at Suffolk in 2014, and Tammi Piermarini, the third most winning female jockey in history.
Post time for the 11-race card is at 12:35 p.m. and gates open at 11 a.m. In addition to live racing, the track will be hosting a food truck festival featuring food trucks from a variety of local vendors, craft beer, live music and family fun activities for the whole family.
Live racing will continue Sunday with 12 races. The $50,000 John Kirby Stakes will be run as a non-wagering event with a post time of 11:55 a.m.
An additional weekend of live racing has been added to the schedule. Live Thoroughbred racing, food trucks and family entertainment will continue on Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 30-Oct. 1.
