Just over 1,100 people pushed through the turnstiles at Dresden Raceway for the opening day card of racing today to kick off the 2018 meet Sunday, May 27.

Fans made Dresden Raceway the place to be this summer despite being slammed with several off season issues including a false accusation of race fixing, a shooting on the track’s grounds and news that Gateway Casinos were moving the slots from Dresden to Chatham in 2020.

“We can’t do anything about those things, we just have to focus on what we do and move forward. We were very happy with the crowd, everyone had a great day and lots of fun,” said Dresden Agriculture Society President Lucille Laprise.

Laprise also noted that the crowd and the handle were up over last year’s Opening Day card of racing. The handle of $26,488 was up just over 23% from the $19,905 that was bet on the first day last year.

“When you only have 11 days of racing, every day is important so you want to show an increase over last year,” said track announcer and publicist Gary Patterson.

“Lucille [Laprise] and our board are doing the little things right. Dresden Raceway has been posting increases over the last three seasons in an industry where most other tracks are showing declines," he also said. “Dresden features promotions and giveaways every day to get people to the track and showcase our incredible product.”

On the track Tyler Borth had the hot hands as he scored four winners on the day including Benvenuti, Lyons Delight, Made To Lead and Grand Bay.

Insincerity went the fastest mile of the day for Garrett Rooney in 1:56 flat while the seventh race triactor combination of 2-1-7 was the largest payout of the day at $367.30.

Dresden Raceway will be hosting B.I.A. Day at the races next week as well as Gateway Casino draws.

(With files from Dresden Raceway)

To view Sunday's harness racing results, click on the following link: Sunday Results - Dresden Raceway.