“From great harness racing action, plus fun and educational activities for both kids and adults, this is what harness racing is all about and should be,” said Celebrity Farms' Sam Stathis about Mohawk Racetrack’s Family Fun Night Saturday. “What a great job WEG did on this night.”

“From the race paddock to the track apron and the clubhouse, it was nothing but big smiles and thousands of people having fun,” Stathis said. “It did my heart good to see so many people exposed to harness racing the way it should be and having my horse win her [elimination] of the SBOA Stakes was icing on the cake!”

Stathis’ Celebrity Eventsy brought him from South Florida to Ontario to watch his top three-year-old trotting filly win her 2016 debut at Mohawk. She won her $25,000 elimination of the SBOA Stakes by three and one-half lengths in 1:54.1.

“Coming up here to Ontario and seeing my filly win her first start of the year was overwhelming,” Stathis said, “But to have witnessed the show that the management and staff at Mohawk Raceway did was even more impressive.”

It was Family Fun Night at the track and in addition to free parking and admission, there was live music throughout the night, exotic animal demonstrations, a mini carnival and arcade games, children decorating horse cookies, a photo booth, mini horses on the track with children and leading Mohawk drivers, a mare and foal on display, balloon art by clowns, and to conclude the night, a fantastic fireworks show at the end of the races.

“And from what I could see,” Stathis said, “the betting pools were doing very well and that is important too.

“I was in the race paddock and got to meet with some of the kids who were going out on the track with mini horses,” Stathis said, “and each child had one of the track's top drivers with them. This is what we need to have our young kids be able to experience the thrill of sitting behind a horse, whether it be a mini horse or a racehorse.

“Seeing them on the track for everyone to check out was tremendous and very emotional for me,” Stathis said. “These are experiences these children will never forget and when they go back to school on Tuesday, they will be telling all their friends about it.”

Stathis, with his World Chariot Racing Federation (WCRF), is embarking on the WCRF pre-Olympic road to Rio world tour with the WCRF again this coming week as he is heading over to Sweden for the Elitloppet. Stathis has already been to both Greece and Italy this month, setting the stage to help reintroduce chariot racing back into the Olympics.

“It was chariot racing,” Stathis said, “that was the founding father of harness racing, and was the main attraction of the first Olympics ever held in Greece. With the WCRF we are working to bring racing back to the Olympics.

“We will be bringing our special exotic chariots to Solvalla Racetrack in Sweden,” Stathis said. “To not just show them off, but educate race fans around the world. We are also raising funds for two major charities, the Special Olympics and Horses Healing Hearts, and the WCRF is designing special chariots for the Paralympics too.

“It is important for every track in harness racing around the globe to see what they did at Mohawk Raceway Saturday,” Stathis added. “If we all can work together on projects like this night and what the WCRF is doing, our sport can come back from being in a declining recession and rebound to where it was 50 years ago as one of the leading sports world-wide.”

(With files from World Chariot Racing Federation)