Kelly Spencer of Grand River Raceway played host to the day's wrap up -- a classic Family Feud competition between racetrack employees and horseplayers
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It was a tough battle. Names were thrown, joking threats were made... but by the end, it came down to a final question period to determine who would progress to the lightning round.
The question... a survey of 100 horseplayers revealed that the best horse movie ever made was...?
Horseplayers picked the number one -- Seabiscuit -- but after they passed the question, it was the racetrack executives who filled in the blanks as tension mounted. Phar Lap (15), Let it Ride (6) and Black Beauty (3) and the Black Stallion completed the board to boot the horseplayers out of the game as the executives to progressed to the lightning round.
Gord Dougan took the challenge (with much encouragement from his colleagues) and managed to amass 79 out of the required 200 points for the win, and his teammate Greg Blanchard stepped up to the plate with big shoes to fill.
Spencer reminded Blanchard before he took the platform that he had to do it for the children, and in the end, Blanchard's answers contributed enough to reach 187 points.
Regardless of the missing 13 points, his winning team (the racetrack executives) received five $25 vouchers for the track tonight -- with any funds won to be donated to Children's Make A Wish Foundation.
Conference attendees will take in a night of racing at Windsor Raceway before reconvening for tomorrow's half-day session.
Day 1 Session summaries:
Standardbred Wagering Conference Opening Address
Session One: Snapshot of North American Standardbred Wagering & Update on SWAP
Session Three: Show Me The Money