Harness season most successful in recent years

By Mark Ribble

LEAMINGTON — After 13 successful race dates in 2021, Leamington Raceway called it a season on Sunday, October 31.

The track is located on the Leamington Fairgrounds, but through an agreement with the Leamington and District Agriculture Society, the Lakeshore Harness Association hosts the races.

According to Lakeshore Harness Association Director Tom Bain, this season was very successful.

“It was really a huge success for us,” said Bain. “It was great to see all of the people turn out.”

Bain says that one of the true measures of a track’s success is the weekly handle, which is the amount of money bet on that particular date.

Twice this season, Leamington broke their record handle, which got up over $46,000 to accomplish that.

In fact, 11 out of the 13 race dates sported handles over $40,000 wagered. That wagering includes on-site betting and online betting through apps such as HPIbet.com.

The start of the second race at Leamington Raceway on Sunday, October 31 sees the horses speed away from the gate. The season came to a close on Sunday, with 13 race dates presented in 2021.

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That makes Leamington one of the more successful horse tracks in southwestern Ontario.

For Bain, he says it’s more than just the money, though.

“It’s a great boost to the industry,” he says. “It supports 2,000 direct and indirect jobs.”

And he says the horsemen love coming here.

“Local horsemen especially, are able to race locally without having to travel up the 401,” he said.

This makes a big difference in their bottom line without having to truck their horses from track to track.

That contributes to the family atmosphere that the locals are looking to capture.

Many families used the races this year as their weekly outing with an opportunity to teach the youngsters about the industry.

Bain says that they’ve applied for more dates for next year.

“We feel we can definitely do more than the 13,” he said.

He hopes to know by the end of this year if that bid for an increase in dates is successful.

Track announcer Nathan Bain also wanted to express his gratitude.

“Thank you to everyone who has worked so hard to make the 2021 racing season such a success,” said Nathan. “I look forward to racing returning in 2022.”