by Stacey Reinsma, Hands On Horses Program co-ordinator

Innisfil, ON — Not even Mother Nature’s fury could keep fans from attending Georgian Downs’ Family Day experience last weekend.

Despite dark clouds and a few raindrops, fans lined up to enjoy miniature pony racing, bouncy castles, mini golf and rides around the track with a Standardbred racehorse. In fact, the sign-up list to hop in the double-seated jog cart for a tour of the oval was filled in less than a half hour.

People came from all over to take part in the fun, including one family that came straight from a Toronto Blue Jays game earlier that day.

“We were rushing checking the time hoping that we wouldn’t miss our chance to ride behind a racehorse,” said Stacey Marchand.

When asked if it was worth the rush she said, “Yes! It was great, but it goes by a lot quicker than you think — probably because you don’t want the ride to end.”

Al Whiteside, a newcomer to the track, learned of the event via a radio promotion.

“I won my chance to ride with a horse on the radio and my friend’s wife tried to trade me my ride for concert tickets because she loves horses that much,” said Whiteside.

More than 40 racing fans — young and old — enjoyed the adrenaline rush of sitting behind a racehorse for the first time, and for each of them it was an experience they won’t soon forget.

For your chance to drive a racehorse, here are events coming up at other tracks in Ontario:

Saturday (July 26)–Hanover Raceway (Hanover)
Saturday (August 2)-Hiawatha Horse Park (Sarnia)
Friday (August 8)-Grand River Raceway (Elora)
Sunday (August 10)-Dresden Raceway (Dresden)
Friday (August 29)-Grand River Raceway (Elora)
Saturday (August 31)-Clinton Raceway (Clinton)

For photos from Georgian Downs’ Family Day event, visit www.handsonhorsesprogram.com.