The start of the harness horse racing season will kick off today. The Lakeshore Horse Racing Association will welcome back fans at the Leamington Raceway for another season of racing, with Sunday, August 9, marking the start of 12 consecutive races. Racing will be held every Sunday through October 25, with post time at 1 p.m. Several popular events will return throughout the season, including Kids Day on September 6, Wiener Dog Races on October 4, and more. Last year’s Wiener Dog Race saw over 2,000 people in attendance. Tom Bain, member of the Lakeshore Horse Racing Association, says they are truly family-friendly events. “It’s not just horse racing; we have activities for our seniors, we have activities for the children who attend out there. Besides great harness racing, we’re bringing in a higher calibre of horse to come in and race.” He says they continue to make improvements at the raceway. “We look forward to just building on what we have; we’ve worked this summer on the track, making it better, done some work on the grandstand, on our speaker systems, so all around we’re ready to go.” Bain says there are some fan-favourite weekends. “I can hardly count the number of people who have said ‘when are the Wiener Dog Races?’. That’s the greatest activity when they’re out there, the wiener dogs racing, the horses racing, just a whole day of complete fun.” Admission and parking are free for every race. Leamington Raceway is located at 194 Erie Street North in Leamington.
