Grand River Raceway wrapped up its 2012 season with its final Fun and Frivolity Friday Night card on Oct. 12.
The 2012 season saw a total of seven track records, including the 1:56.1 score set by Sugar Wheeler on Oct. 3. The mark was also an OSS and all-time Canadian record for three-year-old trotting fillies on a half-mile track.
Trevor Henry maintained an incredible lead in the driving ranks for the entire season, and finished the year with a record 123 wins from 519 starts, good for a UDR of .351 and $769,000 in purse earnings.
Henry was also the top dash-winning driver at Clinton Raceway, Hanover Raceway, and Western Fair (through the spring meet) and is currently just 13 wins off the lead for Canada’s top dash driver.
Richard Moreau was last year’s top percentage trainer at Grand River Raceway, and now picks up his first dash title with 32 wins from 106 starts, $260,000 in purse earnings and a UTR of .455. His outstanding accomplishments included a five-bagger on Aug. 13.
Henry, Moreau and the rest of the top performers of 2012 will be honoured during the first 2013 race card at Grand River.
The final Fun and Frivolity Friday Night card also held the crowning of the champ of the From Bike To Mic guest announcer series.
Carmen Auciello was the winner, nosing out runner-up Jody Jamieson.
The initiative put 16 drivers, trainers and track personnel in the announcer’s booth during Grand River Raceway’s Fun and Frivolity Friday Night cards.
Pro announcers Gary Guy, Ken Middleton and Greg Blanchard determined the winner based on a 65-point system which covered 10 criterion, including accuracy, clarity, flow and originality.
Grand River Raceway raced 65 days in 2012, versus 69 days in 2011. Wagering was up four percent over 2011, when compared on a per-day basis. The 2012 increase included a 16% bump during the track’s Industry Day event on Aug. 6.
