News
New Track Superintendent Off to a Great Start
The opening of the casino at Hoosier Park this year has brought in a lot of changes. Hoosier Park Racing has also experienced change within the portion of it’s’ operations. New track superintendent Gary Wolff began his duties in early March. As superintendent, Wolff is in charge of the condition of the racing surface. 
Wolff oversees the entire track operations and staff. His duties include watering and spreading materials onto the track throughout the week and on race days. Wolff has over 35 years of experience in horse racing, and nearly 18 as a track superintendent.
Before starting at Hoosier Park, Wolff worked at Buffalo Raceway, then in New Jersey at Garden State Park as their track superintendent. Beginning at age 17, Wolff learned about horse racing from George Gregory, the track superintendent at Buffalo Raceway. Under Gregory, Wolff was taught the responsibilities of being a track superintendent.
When Gregory left, Wolff accepted the track superintendent position at Buffalo Raceway before heading to Garden State. After 18 years at Garden State Park, Wolff worked at Freehold Raceway and Indiana Downs, as their track consultant. In addition to working at Indiana Downs, Wolff worked in Virginia at Colonial Downs as their track consultant. In New Jersey, Wolff had no intention of leaving. However, he felt that there was an uncertain future in that state and decided to accept the open position at Hoosier Park this year.
“I planned on going to college, but I had a friend that work at Buffalo Raceway and I loved what I was doing so I decided to stay there,” Wolff said. “The most rewarding part of the job is seeing horses come back every week and seeing them develop. This is an exciting time for Hoosier Park. Indiana will be one of the best states for Standardbreds and Thoroughbreds to race in.”
This past October, Wolff worked as the track consultant for the Breeders’ Cup at Monmouth Park in New Jersey. When arriving at Hoosier Park earlier this year, Wolff felt that the track surface was great, and the layout of the track and facility was remarkable. Along with working at Hoosier Park, Wolff will be working in Pennsylvania at Valley View Downs, scheduled to open in 2010. He will also be their track consultant.
Wolff’s excellent work has recently paid off. Green River Gorge, with driver-trainer Rick Schaut aboard, rounded Hoosier Park’s oval Saturday, June 7 to turn in the second fastest mile ever on the seven-eighths mile surface. The duo stopped the timer in 1:49.0, which is only one of seven miles ever posted under the 1:50 time barrier at the track. The mile by Green River Gorge is also the first outside of the $200,000 Dan Patch Invitational, Hoosier Park’s signature event. The fastest mile ever contested at Hoosier Park was turned in by Pacific Fella and Cat Manzi during the 1998 edition of the Dan Patch in a time of 1:48.2.
