by Kelly Spencer, Mgr. Marketing & Communications, Grand River Raceway

Elora, ON — Grand River Raceway’s Ontario Sires Stakes celebration night is slated for this Friday (Aug. 14), with two special promotions on tap.

Horse name costume game

The popular horse name costume game returns for one night only, offering C$500 in cash prizes.

Fans dress in the likeness of the name of a horse racing on the Aug. 14 race card. With 97 horses to choose from, there’s plenty of opportunity for great names, including Suckitupbuttercup, Tony Soprano, Polk Dot Hanover, Typhoon Seelster, Bee In Charge, Life On The Links, and Northern Emerald, to name a few.

Here is the complete list of horse names for Aug. 14.

To finesse their creative inspiration, fans are encouraged to research unique entries from past horse name costume contests by consulting the following photo gallery.

Contestants must register at the OSS table in the main lobby between 6–7 p.m. The costume parade will take place live on the Tarmac Show after race six (approximately 8:30 p.m.) where three judges will determine the best horse name costumes for both adults and kids (15 and under).

Horse autographed t-shirts

The track will also award 100 OSS t-shirts on Aug. 14. Half of the shirts will be autographed by Camluck and the other half by Big Jim. The shirts are imprinted with the superstars’ hoof prints, using fabric paint and their horseshoes.

Seelster Farms in Lucan, Ontario, is home to both horses. Sadly, Camluck recently passed away at the age of 28. He left an indelible mark on the Standardbred breed. A millionaire on the racetrack, it was in the breeding shed where Camluck made his greatest impact and stamped himself as one of the greatest pacing stallions in harness racing history.

Camluck was inducted into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 2003. In 2008 he was the first Canadian horse inducted into the United States Living Hall of Fame.

Big Jim is the sire of Magnum J, winner of Grand River Raceway’s 2015 Battle of Waterloo. This is the stallion’s first crop of 2-year-olds. As a freshman in his own racing career, Big Jim dominated his competition, setting a world record of 1:49.1 and winning such prestigious events as the Breeders Crown and Governor’s Cup. He retired from racing with earnings of $1.5 million and compiled a record of 10-3-4 from 20 starts.

The OSS t-shirts autographed by Camluck and Big Jim are available to the first 100 people to redeem their program voucher (found in the Aug. 10 program) to the OSS table in the main lobby between 6–7 p.m. (while quantities last). There is a limit of one shirt per person.

The 11-race card on Aug. 10 features three divisions of OSS 2-year-old trotting colts in the Gold Series. Post time for race one is 6:30 p.m.