Recapping our last race night, a great end to a fantastic race season
Written by Jenna MacDonell
The racing season at Grand River Raceway (GRR) officially ended on Monday, September 30th when La Sun Control and driver Scott Coulter romped to victory in the final dash of the 2024 meet.
This season kicked off with excitement as GRR unveiled their newly constructed 5/8th-mile track. Construction began on the new track in August 2023 racing season and opened for training a couple of weeks before the season began. Feedback on the new track has been overwhelmingly positive!
This year, GRR saw a total handle for the 48-card meet of $13,933,222.82. This is up slightly from 2023’s total handle of $13,883,449, which was an all-time wagering record.
As we headed into the last card of racing there was no question as to who would be taking home the leading trainer and driver titles.
Travis Henry secured the leading dash driver by putting up 54 wins this season and $375,363 in purse money. Jason Ryan and Brett MacDonald sat in second with 44 wins apiece.
Ashley Lendvoy earned the first leading trainer title of her career by capturing 19 wins and $104,856 in earnings for the meet. Julie Walker and Kyle Bossense followed with 13 wins each.
We saw a slew of track records this season, as the horses put the new track through its paces. The most notable and fastest mile this year came on Wednesday, September 4, when Saulsbrook Victor crushed the track record in a qualifying session to win in 1:49:1. Not only did he win by a whopping 46 lengths, but Saulsbrook Victor paced the fastest qualifying time in Canadian harness racing history, this also gave the new track at GRR its first sub 1:50 mile.
It was great to see some spectacular colts and fillies show up for our signature event, Industry Day. The Jared Bako trainee Stonebridge Wizard and driver Doug McNair put in an impressive performance in the Battle of Waterloo presented by Winbak Farms. The Battle of Belles came to a dramatic ending with a lengthy inquiry on the winner Wicked N Single, we waited with bated breath in the winner’s circle. In the end there was no violation, and Wicked N was declared the winner.
Wiener Dog night was once again a roaring success, and our track saw 3000 people on-site to watch the cutest race of the year.
Harness the Hope’s Giant Pink Patio party was sold out this year and it was fabulous to see so many from the local community out to support a great cause. We were able to raise over $25,000 for Harness the Hope.
We were honoured to be a part of the 50th anniversary celebration of the Ontario Sires Stake program as they made their final stop on their tour of Ontario Racetracks. It was great to see so many great memories from the years gone by. The evening coincided with National Caretaker Night, where we celebrated the industry’s behind-the-scenes heroes.
This season has flown by way too fast, and we are already looking forward to next year. Congratulations to the GRR team for a very successful 2024 season and thank all the great staff, trainers, drivers, owners, grooms, fans, and horseplayers for helping us make this the best year ever at GRR. We look forward to welcoming everyone back in 2025. Cheers to a safe and healthy off-season!
