I am writing this column the day after the North America Cup and I am still excited -- I wasn’t even there! There was nearly $3.5 million in purses handed out, full fields and over $3 million in betting. Congratulations to all of the connections of the winner, Well Said, who paced a very impressive mile of 1:48.1.
What a festival! I expect that 90% of the people who attended that race on June 27 had been to the races before. On the other end of the scale, I predict that only 10% of the people planning to attend Hiawatha Horse Park & Entertainment Centre during Canada’s Racing Festival, Adrenaline, will have been to the races before.
One of the key components of Standardbred Canada’s Strategic Plan is awareness, and one of the strategies is to develop a racing festival. Perhaps we can attract new customers by showcasing some of our feature races and combining them with entertainment attractions.
Some of the entertainment events to look out for at Adrenaline are a beach volleyball tournament, the ultimate band challenge, flair bartending finals, a Yuk Yuk’s comedy night, a Willie Win pizza party, and the McCann dog show. Thanks to Jim Henderson and his staff at Hiawatha Park for your enthusiasm in hosting the pilot edition of this unique event. What a festival!
Trot on! On behalf of the Board of Directors, all members and myself, I would like to congratulate our own Trot Magazine staff as the publication received a General Excellence Award at the 2009 American Horse Publications conference. The Trot staff, headed by Darryl Kaplan as Editor and Kim Fisher as Associate Editor, are an enthusiastic group who race towards publicity deadlines each month of the year. Keep up the good work!
More congratulations! This month’s congratulations go out to three drivers at both ends of the spectrum. Tony Morgan reached the unbelievable number of 13,000 victories, Matt Kakaley, 21, became the youngest driver to reach 1,000 lifetime wins, and Tyler Remillard received his driver’s license at Fraser Downs this winter and got his first win at Yorktown, Saskatchewan. Congratulations Tyler!
Good luck to everyone at Adrenaline.