by Matthew Lomon

When Jim Henderson took the reins as owner and operator of Hiawatha Horse Park in 1990, his vision for the Sarnia, ON oval was clear: build a destination for fans of all racing backgrounds.

As the five-eighths-mile track approaches the midway point of its 35th season under Henderson’s leadership, the plan remains the same.

“We have a really good crowd,” Henderson said. “A bad day is 1,200 people. It’s a good mix of young and older people, and it’s more of a social crowd.

“Our betting is up quite a bit. Last weekend, we did $67,000 on our live product, which is really good. I forget what they did on the simulcast, but it’s way up too. Overall, it’s pretty well double what we used to do on the simulcast.”

Hiawatha’s 2024 campaign left the gate on May 4 with a 10-race program and will continue to run each Saturday through Sept. 21.

This season has been particularly interesting for Henderson, who has noticed a few new trends as it relates to Hiawatha’s weekly crowds.

“There’s a lot of young people,” Henderson said. “More than I’ve seen in the last year or two.”

The reason? Henderson said harness racing simply offers the perfect balance of affordability and entertainment.

“It’s not that expensive for them, either,” he said. “We do jumbo hot dogs for two bucks and dollar pop on the first Saturday of every month. If there’s five of them in the family, they can go over there for 20 bucks and get 10 hot dogs, taxes included, and away they go to the picnic table.

“Three weeks ago, we had about 4,000 people here for hot dog night.”

In addition to the influx of young families, Hiawatha’s shot-caller also noted more 20-somethings choosing to spend their Saturday nights at 1730 London Line.

“I find a lot of the 20-to-25-year-olds that are coming out now are saying ‘Okay, beers and mixed drinks are five-six bucks,’” Henderson said. “They come out, have a couple of drinks, something to eat, and watch the races.

“If they walk in with 20, 30 bucks, they don’t feel like they don’t have any money on them. Yet, when they go to the casino, they take 20 bucks and they’re not in there for 10 minutes. It’s a different atmosphere at the track.”

While the younger demographic isn’t generally as interested in betting on the races, Henderson added that one segment of fans is committed to playing the ponies.

After Northville Downs ran its final race on Feb. 3, horseplayers in Michigan needed a place to watch and bet on races.

Cue Hiawatha.

“We noticed a big change this year because Michigan doesn’t have horse racing,” Henderson said. “All of a sudden, we’re getting a lot of people from Michigan coming. They’re unique; Thursday, Friday, Saturday, the simulcast is growing like crazy.

“The Americans coming over are a little different because they’re here to gamble. Most of them will spend between $500 and $1,000, and they don’t mind. While others are older people who have been going to the races all their life, and now they can’t go, so they’re coming over the border to watch here.”

On paper, the infusion of Michigan horseplayers provides a legitimate boost to Hiawatha’s live handle. In practice, however, Henderson says there’s still plenty of meat being left on the proverbial bone.

“Now, the only problem with that is the people from the States, they’re looking at pool size, among other things,” he said. “They’re betting our races too, but not the same as The Meadowlands or Mohawk or Gulfstream. They’re just a different crowd. They’re more educated players.

“If they’re going to bet $100 across on a horse, they want to be in a decent-sized pool, and that’s where it hurts us in a way because I’m showing 20 tracks on a Saturday afternoon and Saturday night — I show everything that Woodbine has, I show it all — so you can bet on all of it. In some ways, it hurts us because it takes away from the live handle.”

Despite the counter-effect on live handle, simulcast days have been a boon for Hiawatha’s attendance, and in turn, the development of horse racing fans into more sophisticated horseplayers.

“More and more people are interested in coming,” Henderson said. “Even on simulcast days, there’s more and more people coming out, and more couples. The two of them are coming out, and they’ve already got a program in their hands. They print it at home, bring it with them, and have the names of their horses ready to go.”

The turnout was especially strong on July 6, which also happened to be the first Saturday of the month, for an Ontario Sires Stakes Prospect Series tilt for 3-year-old pacing colts.

Henderson estimated some 4,000 people packed into the grandstand to take in the night’s festivities.

Although ‘Loonie/Toonie’ night and an OSS series contest landing on the same day may seem like the perfect storm, Hiawatha has been able to routinely drive strong attendance numbers by simply maximizing the 165-acre venue’s abundant space.

Community events such as Rib Fest, food truck rallies, concerts, shows, and even retirement parties have been the perfect complement to the facility’s live racing product.

These theme nights, along with the beach volleyball club and driving range also present on site, are crucial to Hiawatha Horse Park’s development into a premium all-in-one entertainment centre.

“We’ve done a lot of little upgrades through the capital improvement program,” Henderson said. “We built a really unique, really dressy tote board… It’s like a giant TV out there. It’s got everything with the replays and odds on each side.

“We changed all the lighting over to LED this year. The picture is way brighter, really crystal clear now with the high-definition cameras. We remodeled the kitchen and the paddock and did a bunch of stuff on all sides.”

With help from Henderson’s sister Barb, he remains committed to growing the Southwestern Ontario venue into a community beacon for both present and future generations to embrace.

As Hiawatha’s 2024 meet heads into the home stretch (nine race dates remaining), Jim is ready to put the finishing touches on another successful season.

“It comes back to the customer base and keeping the one we have going right now,” Jim said. “If it stays as strong as it’s been all summer, it’d be awesome.

“Everything’s gone according to plan so far, but there’s always room for improvement.”