As Santa Claus starts his rounds on December 24, rest assured that he's been getting a fair amount of practice handling the reins at racetracks across the world with a number of appearances in Canada over the past month.
Spotted near the North Pole earlier this month in Finland for the Arctic Horse Race driving challenge, Santa has been busy outside of his workshop on multiple occasions at Standardbred racetracks like Woodbine Mohawk Park. However, the jolly old elf has shown a special affinity for Century Mile Racetrack & Casino in Edmonton, Alta. heading into the holiday season.
The first Santa sighting came on December 14 when he made a special catch-driving appearance aboard HF Opects Trident in the Century Milers Final for two-year-old pacing colts.
Subbing for regular driver Harold Haining, Kris Kringle made every call a winning one en route to an upset win over favoured Wink N Win and Dizzy Dean.
One week later, Santa answered the challenge of The Grinch in a special non-wagering match race at Century Mile.
While there was no purse money on the line, Santa saved Christmas from the evil Grinch by getting up in the nick of time.
Century Mile has posted additional footage of the match race, available below.
Congrats to ALL the
Congrats to ALL the connections that made the Grinch/Santa match race so much fun. Ken Gee did a great job of announcing and the Grinch & Santa both drove a fun race.
Congrats to Mr Haining and
Congrats to Mr Haining and Century Mile for being creative and adding a little fun and Christmas spirit on the track.
Merry Christmas to everyone,
Merry Christmas to everyone, and a special thanks to Santa for saving Christmas