Over 1,800 people made their way to Dresden Raceway on Civic Holiday Monday (August 7) to be a part of the track’s 2017 season finale. For a town that consists of only 2,800 people, the ‘Free Corn on the Cob Day’ by the track can easily be considered a successful event.
The larger than normal crowd filled up the available parking, and even flooded over to the back of the track, where people sat in the beds of their trucks or in lawn chairs. One family even had a small, coal, BBQ cooking up some food. By the third race staff had to make up extra programs to sell.
Over $45,000 was wagered on the holiday card. The program helped end the track’s year with an overall handle of $282,506, which was almost $40,000 more than last year’s campaign.
“We have seen some new faces over the last couple of years and have also seen many people that haven’t been here in a while, but are returning. That is very encouraging going forward,” said Lucille Laprise, who is a part of the Dresden Ag Society. The society has stated that there has been a 30 per cent increase in attendance (almost 11,000 people attended the races for the season).
Two new faces to visit the track are Mr Positivity and Optiwomen. They take part in ‘12 days of positivity,’ where they go to events in surrounding Chatham Kent to spread positivity in hopes to change the outlook and culture of the area. They handed out stickers and posed with families for pictures.
Famous race announcer Roger Huston made his Dresden Raceway debut and announced Races 1 through 5 before signing autographs and talking to fans. This was the 138th track that Huston has called at.
Tyler Borth drove 14-year-old Weskey around the track for the last time. The duo went gate to wire and stopped the clock in 2:04.1. Weskey has won five races from eight starts this year at Dresden.
Garrett Rooney drove one winner on the day, but he was still the clear dash winner with 26 victories on the year at Dresden. Borth recorded two wins to give him 21 victories on the season, and Nick Steward made three trips to the winner’s circle, which gave him a total of 15 wins for the season.
To view the harness racing results for Monday at Dresden, click the following link: Monday Results – Dresden Raceway.
A healthy crowd takes in the action on Civic Holiday Monday (August 7) at Dresden Raceway