Grand River Raceway hosted its eighth annual backstretch Open House on Sunday, May 29.

Attendance topped last year’s record. Nearly 400 people of all ages came for a rare glimpse of horse racing behind-the-scenes.

A full tour of the Open House stations included: a tour of the judges’ stand and announcer’s booth with track announcer Gary Guy; an interactive display created by Dr. Alison Moore comparing racehorses with human athletes; a tour of the paddock, testing areas, starting car and track maintenance vehicles; riders with Racing Under Saddle (RUS) Ontario; Anthony and Amy MacDonald’s fractional ownership The Stable.ca and the unique opportunity to drive a racehorse.

Grand River Raceway extends its gratitude to the following horsepeople and other volunteers who graciously committed their time and horses to help with this event: the Hands On Horses Program (Stacey Reinsma and Brian Tropea of the Ontario Harness Horse Association), Tanya Martin, Dr. Alison Moore, Paula McGuire, John and Nancy Braid, Chris Polifroni, Julie Walker, Jane Belore, Debi O’Brien Moran, Kyle Bossence, Kristen Michelle Kobb, George Ketros, Bob Coole, Alex Marion and Marit Valstad.

Grand River Raceway’s 2016 live racing season kicks off on June 1 at 6:30 p.m.

(Grand River Raceway / Iron Horse Photo)