Being a father to young children and a fan of harness racing is pretty daunting. Something’s gotta give and unfortunately it’s the racing that usually suffers.

For someone in my shoes, especially if he works outside the industry, a trip to the racetrack is a tough thing to pull off with any regularity. Curious George Goes to the Chocolate Factory doesn’t read itself, you know. And date night with the ponies works only so often.

So the question lingers: how would one sneakily parlay a designated family day into an afternoon at the racetrack?

Two words: the Fair.

A midway, ice cream truck, petting zoo, arts and crafts, and for dad’s sanity, a card of harness racing!

A few years ago, I proposed one of these family days on a Saturday morning. The family bit and a trip to the Paris (Ontario) Fair was quickly in the works.

A huge crowd filled the temporary bleachers, lines were 15 deep to bet the races and a grassy spot along the fence served as the ideal location to catch the action. Sure the bucket of caramel corn couldn’t quite compete with the big track’s $29.95 Prime Rib buffet and the 2:06.2 victory by pacer AJs Success was a far cry from the 1:48 mile a week earlier by Lis Mara.

But the day was fun.

We didn’t mind that the program seller ran out of copies, that the pari-mutuel tellers were extremely overwhelmed, and that the horses were far from accomplished. The barn area may have been run down, the admission price may have been steep and the photo finish may have been a little crude.

But we were happy.

Flash forward three years to 2009. This September the Paris Fair will celebrate its 150th Anniversary with six days of family fun. As always, the Paris Agricultural Society’s goal is “to conserve and celebrate the history and culture of agriculture.”

So why, then, is it likely that horse racing will not be a part of this year’s Fair? Why was there no racing in Paris in 2007 or 2008 either?

Somehow, despite the billions of dollars flowing through Ontario’s harness racing industry, the Fairs are shedding horse racing from their priorities. The cost of running the racing events, the hassle of putting them on and the lack of a harness racing advocate on local Fair boards are often cited as reasons.

And who in the racing industry has stood up to fight the erosion of perhaps the most fundamental grassroots marketing tool available? A few bold souls who organize the annual events despite little fanfare, credit or remuneration. Even they are disappearing.

Is it fathomable that several established racing venues serve up hundreds of thousands of dollars in purse money so that horses can race in front of tired, empty grandstands, while at the same time, Fair boards are asked to pony up funds to pay for purses and infrastructure?

Is it imaginable that the industry would make little or no effort to expose horse racing to hundreds of thousands of potential new fans, when a basic plan and a simple re-allocation of a little purse money could result in an easy success?

Last year a partnership between Flamboro Downs and the Norfolk County Fair appeared to be a success. And credit should be given to the parties who made it happen. The efforts need to continue ­– likely under a province or nation-wide umbrella.

The story is far from Ontario’s alone. Fair racing has taken a severe hit across North America, with the ‘have’ regions in many cases suffering the worst.

It is long past time to address the essential need to support rural harness racing. There are over 230 agricultural fairs in Ontario and hundreds more across the country. Every year, fewer of them offer harness racing.

Now that we understand the consequences of inaction, it’s time to deliver a plan to win back the Fairs!

­When we succeed, dads everywhere will be grateful.