Trot Insider has spoken with Joe Kelly, Truro Raceway track manager/race secretary, in regard to the preparations the Nova Scotia half-miler is taking to prepare for Atlantic Grand Circuit Week

, which will be kicking off July 26.

The week at Truro will feature heavily-anticipated sires stakes action until the following Sunday, August 2.

"From all indications, there should be a lot of horses in to contest stakes," explained Kelly, who said that the stakes entries this Wednesday at Summerside were very encouraging. A total of 181 horses were entered to race, with 89 horses being drawn into 13 races.

People in the know do not need an introduction to the Maritimes' passion for the sport of harness racing, but as Kelly told Trot Insider, there is always room for more -- especially when it comes to getting new faces and potential fans to the track.

"At the moment we are trying to get a beginner's seminar together," he explained. "We're looking at giving these folks a good meal, showing them a good time, and explaining to them how to wager so that level of discomfort and uncertainty is erased.

"It's a special time," Kelly said about Truro's Atlantic Grand Circuit Week. "People especially like to see the two-year-olds and the horses that are in to go for the invitationals."

In terms of the track itself, Kelly stated that the changing of the seasons in Nova Scotia did play some havoc with the oval, something which those north of the border know all too much about. Although, as the big week is just around the corner, Kelly told Trot Insider that the track itself is in tip top shape. "The track has been terrific the last couple of weeks," he said.

Truro was forced to deal with a highly-publicized strangles outbreak this past winter. "The entire situation is pretty well all cleared up," Kelly told Trot Insider. "There haven't been any other reported cases since the winter."