The 59th season of harness racing at Vernon Downs gets underway tonight. The schedule includes more than six months of racing along with some fun promotions and entertainment. Our Brad Vivacqua is at Vernon Downs to tell us more about what we can expect this year.

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VERNON, N.Y. -- There are plenty of Central New Yorkers excited that's it's Opening Day at Vernon Downs. The 90-day race schedule begins tonight.

Owner Jeff Gural said he's excited about bringing some of the best harness horses, trainers, and jockeys in the country to the track.

Promotions like cash giveaways and drawings will also make the track appealing to several people looking for something to do.

As for entertainment, tickets will be going on sale Saturday for Bruce Springsteen's Wrecking Ball Tour which will be here August 29th. Tickets are $108 each and it's expected that more than 30,000 will be sold. A portion of the proceeds will be given to the Central New York Food Bank and the Veterans Outreach Center.

Vernon Downs owner Jeff Gural said, "I would expect that we'll be able to raise well over $100,000 for charity that night. And we also have a concert July Fourth weekend with America, and that's our benefit concert. All those tickets are ten bucks, and all of the proceeds, 100 percent go to the Food Bank."

Gural said he's looking forward to seeing some big crowds here for those concerts and the races.

Harness racing begins tonight with a post-time of 6:55 p.m. There will also be plenty of giveaways and a fireworks display after the races.