Due to unforeseen circumstances, missed deadlines and a shortage of 'A' venues, Alberta's resilient standardbred community has been given no choice but to display its mettle to the racing world once again
. If one opts to look at it as such, the phoenix which has risen from the situation is the Evergreen Park facility in Grande Prairie.
Trot Insider has spoken with Alberta Standardbred Horse Association racing manager Fred Gillis regarding the upcoming Grande Prairie meet, which will offer 46 race dates, over $1 million in stakes and between $2.5 and $3 million in overnight purses.
The meet is scheduled to kick off Friday, June 12 and run until Sunday, September 27. Will there be obstacles? In some way, shape or form, there undoubtedly will be -- but this breed of horsepeople has made a habit of making things work.
Gillis explained to Trot Insider that stall space will be tight over the course of the meet -- more so during some particular times. The management team at Evergreen Park was able to provide the standardbred horsemen with 450 stalls for the incoming stock.
"ASHA went out and rented another 60 stalls," Gillis told Trot Insider. "In total, there will be stalls for 510 standardbred horses, which isn't that bad at all."
Gillis said that in a perfect world there would be room for 550 harness horses, but, given the situation, he is pleased with how things have shaken out. A total of 450 thoroughbred and quarter horses will be stabled alongside the standardbreds from July 1 through the end of August.
"I've said it before, and it's beginning to sound a lot like a broken record, but the people associated with Grande Prairie really must be given a lot of credit for how they have bent over backwards for the standardbred community. This is not something that they have to do. They have done everything in their power to accommodate us and we are very grateful," Gillis said.
Gillis also told Trot Insider that a top-quality simulcast will be put together this year. He said that Northlands Park will be picking up the signal and distributing it through its network.
And in regard to the track, Gillis couldn't be happier. "The improvement that we saw in that track last year was unbelievable," he said. "We saw horses go in 1:54 in 2008 -- there isn't much to say after that. All of horsemen that I have talked to that have seen the track this year, they are all fully confident to race all of their stock over it."
For more information about Grande Prairie's Evergreen Park, click here.