Friday we celebrate the 4th of July! The Nagel Beverage Company of Boise has joined hands with Capitol Racing to feature a fun-filled day of child & family-oriented activities and live horse racing. While the live racing begins at 1:30 p.m., the doors to Les Bois Park open at noon and our celebration of Independence Day begins early with free admission, free hot dogs and free Pepsi beverages for all children 12 and under (while supplies last). In addition, the day’s festivities include an on-site petting zoo, inflatable play centers, face painting, colorful kid  tattoos, a visit from “Bubbie the Clown”, and after the last race Skydown Sports Skydiving may just drop in with a 30′ by 60′ (that’s 1,800 sq ft!) American Flag trailing.  This flag is second in size in Idaho only to the J.R. Simplot flag which is 5 feet longer.  It will be the largest free flying American Flag in the entire Northwest, coming into our infield!

While the zoo, the play centers, face painting and other activities will take place in front of the grandstand, the racing will obviously take place on the race track, and the skydivers will target the infield area inside the race track.

The racing card Friday includes eight live races – all with full fields, and featuring The Stars & Stripes Handicap – a stakes event for eligible fast-class  Thoroughbreds, three-years of age or older. This event is Race #7, and carries a purse of $7,500 Added, run at a distance of 7 and ½ Furlongs. It is sponsored by the Greyhound Park and Event Center in Post Falls, ID. This stake has nine entrants, with eight separate betting interests. Possibly the best Thoroughbred on the grounds at Les Bois Park – Tracfurtogafur (pronounced “Track Photographer”) – is included in this field. Tracfurtogafur (trained by Rod Hyde for owner Jared Chappell) is undefeated at the current race meet and his victories already include The Inaugural Handicap on opening weekend and The Ron Yanke Stakes in early June. The distance here is not an issue. Tracfurtogafur should be favored over Helm’s Press (trained by Dru Hall for GMS Racing) and Twain (trained by Ken Elison for co-owner Vicki Jo Elison). Others in the field inlclude the entry of Spud Man and Remote Control (trained by Monte Brinsley for owner P.F. Quadrato), Maravillosa Marcos (trained & owned by Tawnja Elison), Walnut Avenue (trained by Mike Scudder for I M I  Racing), Bonk (trained by Monte Brinsley for Greg James) and Fanteria (trained by Matt Williams for Violet Underdahl). This race will top off our July 4th celebration. 

Capitol Racing and the racing community at Les Bois Park wish to thank The Nagel Beverage Company, the local distributor of Pepsi products here in Boise and good friend of racing, for sponsoring the 1st Annual Pepsi Family Fun Day for Treasure Valley racing fans and their families. Our sincere “Thank You” to the entire Pepsi family and to the patrons and families that continue to support live horse racing at Les Bois Park.

Finally, this Friday and Saturday is also AQHA Youth Day at Les Bois Park. Capitol Racing and the horsemen and women at the track welcome thirty teenage 4Hers from several counties in Idaho that surround the race track. These youngsters have been given the “run of the stable area and other parts of the race track” and have worked with our local trainers to learn about working with race horses and, in particular, with many of the horses that will participate in Saturday’s Stakes races. The Youth Day participants can be identified by the Kelly green T-shirts that they wear while in the stable area and grandstand. There may be a future horse owner, trainer, exercise rider, jockey or Veterinarian among them, so welcome them to Les Bois Park this weekend.

REMINDER: Our 1st Annual Pepsi Family Fun Day, Sponsored by Pepsi, is July 4th.  Post Time is 1.30 pm and gates open at high noon!

It finally happened: we had nice comfortable weather last Tuesday night and “wow!”, we had a great Ladies’ Night. Almost three thousand patrons and fans of horse racing filed in to the Les Bois facility ready to party. The great weather, the great crowd and the great racing, all contributed to a great atmosphere for fun and “socialization”. Our Ladies’ Night patrons wagered over $60,000 on our eight races! Many fans even stayed around after the races to socialize (on a nice evening the party just doesn’t end with  the last race).

Tuesday, the good weather, the good racing and the good atmosphere continues at Les Bois. Nine races have been carded by Race Secretary Fred Davis to present an interesting cross-section of the horses that fill our stable area. The feature race is Race #7, a Claiming Race to Thoroughbred Fillies and Mares. The class of this seven horse field is Candy Go (trained by Gerald Wehrli for Teton West Racing) who has established her reputation as a tough competitor here at Les Bois Park. Several up-and-coming youngsters have raced recently at Northern California race tracks and fit in very well here – La Beau Em (trained by Kenneth McReynolds and co-owned by Peggy McReynolds) and Gorgeous Gibson (trained by Ty Garrett for Neal Howard, Lee Pearson & Ken Perry). Completing the field are Sweet Angel (trained by Mike Scudder for Lori Scudder), She’s Baq (trained by Rod Hyde for Riverview Farm), Schu True Sleeper (trained by Ron Stevens for owner Harley Vance) and R J’s Peanut (trained by Charlene Whiteside for Malon Cowgill). This race should appeal to our ladies. 

If Tuesday is July 1st, then the July 4th Holiday Weekend is almost upon us. This year, we race on Friday, July 4th and Saturday, July 5th. To celebrate Independence Day, on Friday we have a special afternoon of racing along with a special promotion for kids twelve and under and the entire family — it’s Pepsi Family Fun Day on the afternoon of July 4th!  The folks at Pepsi have teamed up with Capitol Racing to present a great day of family fun and horse racing. Be sure to visit our petting zoo, get your face painted, get a holiday “tattoo”, visit with Bubbie the Clown, and for kids twelve and under – get your free hot dog and Pepsi beverage. Then after the last race look to the sky as a team of skydivers from Skydown Sports Skydiving of Caldwell target the Les Bois infield. A full afternoon of fun-filled, family-oriented activities with exciting races highlighted by the Stars & Stripes Handicap for Thoroughbreds three-years of age or older.
   
Finally, on Saturday racing returns to the evening hours with our usual 6:00 p.m. First Post. However, while the post time is “the usual”, our racing card is anything but usual. In fact, racing fans should look forward to one of the best evenings of racing at this year’s meet. If you like fast-class stakes races, every race on Saturday is a Stakes race including: a quartet of Finals of the American Quarter Horse Association’s Northwest Regional Challenges: the Derby, the Juvenile, the Championship and the Distance events, two consolation Stakes for eligibles from last weekend’s AQHA Quarter Horse Trials, and the Final of the Chris Christian for two-year-old Thoroughbreds and the Thoroughbred Fillies & Mares Handicap.

Saturday is also AQHA Youth Day and Capitol Racing and the horsemen and women at Les Bois Park welcome thirty teenage 4Hers from the surrounding counties to the race track. These youngster have had the “run of the stable area and other parts of the race track” and have worked with our local trainers to learn about working with race horses and, in particular, with many of the horses that will participate in Saturday’s Stakes races. The Youth Day participants can be identified by the Kelly green T-shirts that they wear while in the stable area and grandstand. There may be a future horse owner, trainer, exercise rider, jockey or Veterinarian among them, so welcome them to Les Bois on Saturday.