A boom in attendance helped launch the Fort Erie Race Track to enormous wagering numbers for its first Sunday card of the season on Father’s Day. Before the action could begin, the track had to deal with a curve ball in the form of Gareth, a rescue dog who had been recently rehomed by one of the families living near the track property, but had escaped days earlier and was found running around the oval just as the first horses hit the dirt. With the help of a few strips of bacon, track staff worked quickly to wrangle the pup and reunite him with the owners.
With the dog chase out of the way, the horses again took centre stage and ran the track to a massive $1.4 million in total wagering for the day, which is up 189 per cent compared to last year’s Father’s Day card. A major driver was the 79 per cent increase in on-track wagering, where crowds at the track also helped push food and beverage to a 37 per cent increase in sales over last year.
“Father’s Day has historically been one of the biggest days of our entire meet, and Sunday was no exception,” said James Culic, the track’s communications manager. “Heading to the races in Fort Erie with your old man has long been a tradition in Niagara, and we saw plenty of multi-generational families enjoying the beautiful weather, the fast horses, and other things like our vendor market.”