By Randy Monk
sports.desk@theindependent.com

Certainly the condition or fitness of the horse is of utmost importance. Trainers have been working hard to get their horses into top racing condition through workouts, galloping, or using the new Eurocizer in the Big Red Barn.

As Fonner Park opens its 55th season of racing, handicappers are often pondering the question, "Is this horse in top condition?"

The racetrack surface itself is spoken upon as what condition is the track surface. A dirt racing surface such as Fonner Park's can be listed as fast, good, sloppy, muddy, heavy or slow. Again, handicappers wonder how the condition of the racing surface will have on each competitor in the race.

However, when one speaks of conditions at the race track, you can actually go and look up the conditions in the actual conditions book.

The conditions book is the book that lets horsemen know what races will be run on a certain day at a specific distance, specific purse to run for, and if the race will feature claiming, allowance, handicap or stakes rules.

In addition to the above conditions, races can be written exclusively for maidens, which are horses yet to win a race. Races can also be written for non-winners of two, three or four races in a lifetime, or very often in claiming-races horses that have not won in a certain amount of time, such as one or two years.

The person in charge of writing the conditions for the condition book is the racing secretary. At Fonner Park, the racing secretary is Doug Schoepf. Schoepf, a native of Aurora and former jockey, serves as the racing secretary at Fonner Park along with Minnesota's Canterbury Park and The Woodlands in Kansas City.

"At Fonner Park we release the conditions book in three installments," Schoepf said.

The first conditions book lists all the races for the first 15 days of the meet. The second book would then list races for the next 12 days of racing and the third book lets horsemen know what is in store for the last eight days.

"We list a lot of sprints early in the year, especially at four furlongs in the first two weeks as many of the horses are just getting into top shape," Schoepf said. "We gradually move into longer distances. At Fonner we usually see horses run about every two weeks, and many trainers like to stretch their horses out to six furlongs or a mile the second or third time they run."

New at Fonner Park this season is listing the conditions book on Fonner Park's Web site.

"That seems to be what all the tracks are going towards," Schoepf said. "It's easy for horsemen to get on line, especially if they're stabled at another racetrack and see what you have in store stakeswise, rather than just calling the office."

Fans can check the conditions book at www.fonnerpark.com by clicking on the live racing tab.

Simul-taneous

* Edgar Prado won his 6,000th race this last Sunday aboard Sumphin at Gulfstream Park. A native of Peru, Prado began riding in the United States in 1986. He is best know as the regular rider of 2006 Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro.

* Dylan Williams continues his hot riding at Oaklawn Park where he is currently second behind Eusebio Razo in the jockey standings with 11 wins. Williams won his first race of his life Feb. 10th last year at Fonner Park.

* Former Fonner Park trainer Jamie Ness continues to lead the training standings at Tampa Bay Downs with 27 wins. Ness is attempting to win the Tampa Bay Trainer title for the second consecutive year.

* A horse named Joshua's Cup lit up the toteboard in the fifth race at the Fairgrounds in New Orleans on Monday as he returned $233.80 to win and set off a $1 trifecta payoff of $65,887 and a 10-cent superfecta payoff of $78,068.60 for one lucky fan.