Grand River Raceway hosted its fifth annual backstretch open house here on Oct. 19.
Despite dark skies and showers, 156 people of all ages attended for a rare glimpse of horse racing behind the scenes.
More than $150 was raised at the door 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 officials thank who volunteered to help with the event and provided horsepower, including: staff of the Hands On Horses Program (Stacey Reinsma, Natalie Elliott, Ken Ellis), Brian Tropea of the Ontario Harness Horse Association, Kristen Cobb, Kyle Bossence, Paula McGuire, Ken Middleton, Ben Holliday, John Newell, Bob McClure, Caroline Holliday, Gary Guy, Joe Currie, Tom Williams and Debi O’Brien Moran.
The Grand River Raceway event is the final open house of the season presented in cooperation with the Hands On Horse Program and the Ontario Harness Horse Association. For information about similar events, visit handsonhorsesprogram.com.
The Hands On Horses Program returns to raceway for the track’s season finale on Oct. 30, when fans can win a spin around the track in a double-seated jog cart. For information visit grandriverraceway.com.
