If the results from the opening day of The Horses @ Evergreen Park are an indication, it could be a very competitive season in the race for top jockey and trainer.
Among the seven races to kick of the July-August weekend event, there were no repeats.
Seven different jockeys and seven different trainers made it into the Dynamic Energy Group Winner’s Circle.
There were some close races over the day with three of the seven wins being by a neck.
Closest was Race 4 – a photo finish that saw Eddic Crosswire, ridden by Dwight Lewis and trained by Travis Robson, neck out trainer Clint Rycroft’s Jump The Queue with Orlando Foster on board.
A head back in third in that race, over 5 ½ furlongs and for a purse of $6,800, was Puddingontheritz – trained by Ken Bell with Richard Lunan behind the reins.
Three of the races started five horses, two had six and one had eight. Race 2 was scheduled for five, but ended up with four after a scratch.
One of the most successful trainers in Canada, Tim Rycroft, made an appearance on Sunday. He is zeroing in on 900 wins in his career and close to $12M in winnings.
He notched up another victory on J.D.A. Raceway when Mr Miezie finished first in a 5 ½ furlongs run netting $3,604 of the $6,800 purse. It was Mr Miezie’s first race on a B Track after previous starts at A Tracks in Edmonton and Calgary.
Evergreen Park Racing Club horse Onemorefortheroad was in tough against the eight horses in Race 7 and finished seventh. McKenna Moon, with Foster in the stirrups and Floyd Buffalo training, won that race – over 5 ½ furlongs.
It was a beautiful, sunny day. That may have accounted for one of the largest crowds for an opening day in several years, Or maybe it was the free hot dogs.
The handle was a respectable $116,984.
Next weekend is the first of the two-day weekends with racing starting Saturday and Sunday at 1:15 p.m.
It is highlighted by the annual Baconfest fundraiser on Sunday. A wide variety of bacon-themed tidbits will be available to purchase. The County of Grande Prairie Firefighters will be there helping sell the goodies and also 50/50 tickets to raise funds for their Charitable Foundation.