By Wendy Post
Tioga Downs Casino opens for live racing this year on its customary date of Kentucky Derby Day, Saturday, May 2. This year’s season provides a total of 61 live race dates and plenty of promotions, including bulldog races, an Ugly Dog Day, Racing Bingo and Beer Fridays, Family Days Sundays, Putt for Dough, and much more!
Opening day features live harness races, with the first post time of 5:15 p.m. Racing-starved patrons can enjoy the biggest day in Thoroughbred racing, coupled with the return of live harness races for the first time since last fall.
Arrive early to participate in the Derby Hat Contest, get your free magnet calendar (for the first 200 guests) and a t-shirt, and enter to win a $500 Derby Dream Bet.
Last year’s first-place derby hat was designed with the Kentucky Derby in mind. (File Photo / Wendy Post)
For the Derby Hat Contest, guests wearing a Kentucky Derby-themed hat can register for free at the promotions table beginning at 2 p.m. on Saturday, May 2. Judging will take place beginning at 4 p.m., and five winners will be awarded prior to the first race of the season. Participants have a chance to win free play, with $250 awarded to the first-place winner; second place is $200, all the way to fifth place, receiving $50 in free play.
To boost the celebration on opening day, racing fans can watch and wager on the 152nd Kentucky Derby, which will be simulcast throughout the facility and on the video board in the infield.
Home to some of the biggest stakes races around, Tioga Downs Casino Resort will not disappoint race fans this summer as they host the NY Sire Stakes, Empire Breeders Classic, Reynolds Memorial, the NY Sire Stakes Excelsior Finals, and more. Come out and catch all the action. Watch and wager on all these big events, or just head out for an afternoon trackside.
Tioga Downs is also set to host various recurring weekly promotional events.
Guests can enjoy fireworks on May 23 following live racing. “Bingo and Beer Night” is every Friday, featuring Harness Racing Bingo and $2 draft beers. Sunday “Family Day” Specials feature food specials and free bounce houses, water slides, and more. Enjoy concession specials of $1 sodas, $1 popcorn, $2 hot dogs, and $3 draft beers.
During the 2026 live harness racing season, guests can “Putt for Dough.” Grab the putter and give it your best shot. Prizes range from $25 Race Wager Vouchers to a round of golf at the Tioga Golf Club.
Tioga Downs also offers fireworks nights, a Hambletonian Trip giveaway, a Lawncare giveaway, and much more. For the trip giveaway, five people will win a $25 race voucher and an entry into the grand prize drawing on June 27 for a trip to the Hambletonian at Meadowlands Racetrack on August 8.
And let’s not forget the pups. The bulldog races take place on Sunday, June 14, with a post time of 1 p.m. Ugly Dog Day is set for June 20.
For Ugly Dog Day, simply bring your pup to the races to receive a Tioga Downs leash and participate in the Ugly Dog Parade. Take a photo in the Ugly Dog photo booth for a chance to win a $100 resort gift card.
Pictured is a six-year-old Standardbred mare, Plum Wine, one of approximately 20 at Allerage Farms in Sayre, Pa. Tours to the farm will be offered this year on May 31, June 28, July 26, August 30, and September 6. The shuttle leaves from the front of Tioga Downs Casino at 11 a.m. Visit the promotions paddock table to sign up. You can view a previously published story about the farm by visiting https://tinyurl.com/ysuxhp77. (Photo by Wendy Post)
Another popular attraction this summer is the free tours at Allerage Farm, owned and operated by Jeff and Paula Gural since 2013. Gural, owner of Tioga Downs in Nichols, N.Y. and chairman of American Racing and Entertainment, built the farm in 2006, similar to his existing farm in Stanfordville, New York, which has been in operation since the 1980s.
Gural owns and operates several harness racing tracks, including the track at Tioga Downs, Vernon Downs, and The Meadowlands in New Jersey. Horse racing is in his wheelhouse, and Gural takes great pride in the Standardbreds and the sport.
Tours to the farm will be offered this year on May 31, June 28, July 26, August 30, and September 6. The shuttle leaves from the front of the casino at 11 a.m. Visit the promotions paddock table to sign up.
For more information about the 2026 racing season and promotions, visit www.TiogaDowns.com.
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