by Heather MacKay Roberts, Marketing Manager, Kawartha Downs

Fraserville, ON — The 43rd season of live harness racing at Kawartha Downs will begin this Saturday night (May 30) with a 7 p.m. post time.

Opening night has been named ‘Gord Brown Night’ as we celebrate the career of Kawartha’s leading driver for many years who recently achieved a significant career milestone of 4,000 lifetime wins.

All patrons at the track on Saturday will receive free race programs, be eligible for prize draws and each winning driver will toss commemorative Gord Brown hats to the crowd.

Brown has generously donated a brand new driving suit to be auctioned off on opening night. All money raised will go to the Ontario Standardbred Adoption Society which finds forever homes for retired Standardbreds.

Other special events planned for this year’s meet, which runs from May 30 to Oct. 3 (except Sept. 19) include:

June 20 – The ‘Celebration of The Horse’ featuring racing under saddle. Elevated purse night, 12 races.
July 11 – In conjunction with Standardbred Canada we will be hosting ‘Bring A Friend’ night which encourages our regular attendees to bring a friend who has never attended the races before. Free programs and lots of fun activities.
July 18 – Celebration of Kawartha Downs’ anniversary featuring the Ontario Sires Stakes Grassroots for 3-year-old trotting colts.
August 1 – Family Night with activities for the youngsters including balloon animals, face painting, Hands On Horses and much more. Elevated purse night, 12 races.
September 5 – It’s Goodtimes Night! We’ll celebrate the iconic career of Canadian Hall of Fame member Goodtimes who began and ended his celebrated career at Kawartha Downs. Elevated purse night, 12 races.
September 12 – Memorial Night (also on September 26 if necessary).
October 3 – Fan Appreciation Night with the always popular Hands On Horses back to provide fans the opportunity to drive one of our incredible horses around the track.

Program pages for opening night are available through this link.

Live streaming of all Kawartha races are available on our website at www.kawarthadowns.com.