Another successful racing season wrapped up this past Sunday afternoon at Leamington Raceway with very impressive rising numbers. Wagering is up 20% for the season with an average of over $35,000 bet per race card, which is the highest of any of the tracks in Southwestern Ontario. This is partly attributed to the addition of Hpi Bet, meeting the demands of fans wanting to watch the races and bet from their mobile devices with our new live stream. Leamington also saw an increase in purses this year making the racing fields even more competitive. Racing secretary Jan Adams did a fantastic job making full fields and competitive races all season. Overall 2019 was another record breaking season for Lakeshore Horse Racing association.
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Horses behind the gate at Leamington Raceway
Highlights of events we had this year include kids day which is always a huge day for us as we giveaway bicycles, have face painting going on and we have Wanna Drive cone to give the kids a ride around the track behind a race horse. Kids are always welcome to enjoy the races every race day at Leamington Raceway! Another popular event was our 5th annual wiener dog races which packed the grandstand to see all the dogs in action. Lastly Roger Huston Day was a great event for our 2nd last day of racing, this was Roger's 4th visit to Leamington overall. Each and every event this year was a huge hit and loved by all the racing fans at Leamington, thanks to the planning by promotions manger Ellie Mayhew.   
Social media also played a positive role in our racing with the social media platforms Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Each of these sites reaches different age groups helping us gain many new fans of all ages. It's so good be reaching new fans through social media to ensure our industry has a solid future with new generations learning the harness racing industry. On these sites we provided a poster about the race days events to tell our fans what's going on, these posters are very catchy and creative, Kathy Leon does a fantastic job with these weekly ads.
On the broadcasting side of things myself and track announcer Gary Patterson made a great broadcasting team with back and forth commentary throughout out the day. I would always provide commentary of my selections before the race then send it back up to Gary to call it. Gary has given me plenty of opportunities letting me call a couple of races every day at Leamington and Dresden. I was even fortunate enough to call an entire card of racing which was huge for me at the age 17. I also liked to get at least one or two driver interviews a day because the fans love to hear the drivers and learn about them. I would ask the drivers about how they thought the race went for them and some other questions about the race. Near the end of the meet we introduced the game "Press Your Luck" for a chance to win up to $500 which Gary handled and interviewed the fans while playing the game. A natural entertainer, he did a fantastic job at it. Every week before the races I hosted a live prerace show on our Facebook page going through my selections that are at the front of the program, hopefully it helped out some of the bettors.  A Huge thanks goes out to all our amazing fans for filling the grandstand every week. I have said this many times before, we have the best fans of any racetrack in the world because they love the sport and the track and just love spending an afternoon at Leamington Raceway with a smile on their face. It's so great to see the diverse group of fans that come to the races every week from the ones who have been going to the races for years and love it, to the families who come out to the track with their kids and newcomers. This track has become such an amazing family atmosphere, which is so great to see the sport growing with new fans every week, which was one of the groups goals from the beginning. We do weekly t-shirt tosses and giveaways for our fans to thank them all for their support. I always look forward to talking to race fans about the races and selections they have for the card of racing.  This year's winner of the Lakeshore Cup was the 3yr colt Sportsline the son of Sportswritter, driven by Drew Neill in a time of 1:57.2 for trainer Jim Watt. This colt has now nearly banked $120,000 in 2019 and took a lifetime mark earlier this year at Woodbine Mohawk Park in 1:50.3, Sportsline also set a new record for the fastest 3yr colt ever at Leamington Raceway. Behind Sportsline Was Njs Trick Pistol and Marc St Louis who finished 2nd in the Lakeshore Cup and OldfriendsKentucky finished 3rd driven by Nick Steward.  On Closing day President of the Lakeshore Horse Association Mark Williams and director Tom Bain came up to the grandstand to say a few words to the racing fans about the meet. Mark Williams took the mic and thanked the fans for all their support every single race day, he also went on to thank all the horse people and drivers racing at Leamington Raceway each week. Lastly he thanked all the dedicated staff of Leamington Raceway for all their hard work putting on an amazing show every raceday. General manger Wayne Martinuik was also very pleased with the rise in the handle and the crowd.  
In conclusion I would just like to thank everyone for their support and making Leamington Raceway a huge success, I cant to see what the 2020 racing season brings.
Story By Nathan Bain
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