See What A Driver Sees

In harness racing, like any other sport, it’s easy enough to stand at the sidelines and call a driver's move good or bad, but if put on the track in their position your opinion might change. What really goes on at racetrack level? It’s an experience that can mesmerize fans and provide information to handicappers they don’t usually consider and can’t always access

. Post race interviews with drivers provide some perspective, but nothing beats the actual experience.

But now, Western Fair District is providing its fans and handicappers with the opportunity to view how a race unfolds from a driver’s perspective by fashioning cameras to their helmets.

While the idea is not completely new to racing as cameras have been attached to drivers and sulkies for video features and documentaries in the past, it is a new endeavour for the Western Fair District. The videos are a product of Marketing Manager Sarah Imrie in collaboration with her team.

“I actually came up with the idea because of working closely with our marketing team here at the Western Fair District,” Imrie told Trot Insider. “They had used the helmet camera for our Annual Fair in September and had a lot of fun wearing it on the different rides. So bringing it over to the racetrack seemed like a natural next step. I had seen the video of Herve Filion talking his way through a race at Yonkers and I thought it was just a great way for fans to see what really goes on while the drivers are in the race!”

Imrie says the drivers were excited to try out the helmet camera during its first week of trial runs in mid-January.

“My first successful video was of Aaron Byron, and the reaction from the social media streams it was posted on was definitely far more than I expected. It had over 600 views in its first day!” noted Imrie. “It’s hard to know how other people are going to react. I thought it was just the coolest thing, but for all I knew people would think of it as dangerous or overdone. Luckily, my worries weren’t realised.”

Greg Dustin and Garry MacDonald were also adorned with the camera in following races with more to come. Imrie says development of the initiative and its uses are still underway. One of their ideas is to attach a mic to the drivers to get better audio quality as well as some play by play of the action.

“Aside from the mud stains on the footage, it really worked well,” she said. “The audio has presented a bit of a challenge, but now that I know it has been received well by fans I’m eager to keep testing out new ways and new camera angles to get a fresh perspective on the sport. I’ll admit I was a little anxious about any issues with concerns of liability and if the judges would have a problem with the camera being attached to the helmet. We’ve taken the steps here to check with everyone involved and the reaction I’ve had across the board has been positive. I’m not sure how it’s worked for tracks in the past, but it seems to be generating some excitement here, which is progress in itself.”

To view the videos, visit Western Fair District’s Youtube page.