The Canadian Sportsman
Small Victories
Back To Small VictoriesMay 27, 2011
After almost two solid months of rain, the last thing that anyone in-and-around London, ON should plan is a pool party, but thanks to the efforts of The Horseplayers Association of North America (HANA) and Western Fair Raceway the forecast for Friday, May 27 looks promising.
“Pool parties” — where horseplayers gather to bet a specific pool on a specific day to show support for customer-friendly racetracks — were first introduced in 2009.
This time around, HANA has anointed Western Fair’s Pick 4 on its $300,000 Molson Pace card as the place to wager on May 27, an acknowledgement of the track’s efforts in offering free programs, a reduction in takeout on their pick 4 from 25 to 15 per cent, and guaranteeing pools.
In response, Western Fair further ingratiated itself by offering a $10,000 minimum pool for the Pick 4 and letting the horseplayers vote via an online survey to choose which races would make up the wager sequence.
With voting now concluded, the horseplayers selected races 9 through 12 — the $130,000 Ontario Sires Stakes Gold Final for three-year-old filly pacers, the $300,000 Molson Pace, the fillies/mares preferred pace, and the $25,000 invitational pace.
The gesture, thought to be the first of its kind, has only enhanced the track’s reputation for going beyond just paying lip service to the importance of the customer.
“We are pleased to support Western Fair’s big night,” said HANA president Jeff Platt, in a release. “Picking the Pick 4 is a great idea and the track should be commended for engaging customers in such a way. We are excited to be a part of this and encourage all horseplayers to play a few dollars to support the track.”
Only time will tell how many horseplayers will jump in the pool, and how hard they will party once they get there, but both HANA and Western Fair deserve a ‘huzzah’ for the reciprocal goodwill.
With a little luck, the pool party will beget more blue skies and more small victories.
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