Grand River Raceway hosted its sixth annual backstretch Open House on Sunday, May 25.
Attendance was higher than ever. Nearly 300 people of all ages attended for a rare glimpse of horse racing behind-the-scenes. Donations at the door topped $200 for the Ontario Standardbred Adoption Society.
A full tour of the Open House stations included a tour of the judges’ stand and announcer’s booth with track announcer Gary Guy; the basics of breeding, owning, training, driving and caring for racehorses; a tour of the paddock, testing areas, starting car and track maintenance vehicles; and the unique opportunity to drive a racehorse.
Grand River Raceway extends its sincere appreciation to the horsepeople who graciously volunteered their time, and horses, to help with this event: staff of the Hands On Horses Program (Stacey Reinsma, Natalie Elliott, Ken Ellis), Brian Tropea of the Ontario Harness Horse Association, Chris Munroe, Murray Small, Marit Valstad, Anna Glide, Kristen Cobb, Paula McGuire, Ken Middleton, John Braid, John Newell, Gary Guy, Jim Ellis, Justin Herod, Chris Polifroni, Ron Waples, Julie Walker, Jane Belore, Ron O’Neill, Debi O’Brien Moran and Hannah Beckett from Trot 4 Kids.
To view photos from the Grand River Raceway Open House, click here.
To view the CTV coverage of the event, click here.
Grand River Raceway’s 2014 live racing season kicks off on June 2 at 6:30 p.m.
(Grand River Raceway)