Western Fair not grandstanding when it comes to their guest experience

by Matthew Lomon

When live harness racing returns to The Raceway at Western Fair on Friday (Oct. 3), 126 days will have passed since the close of its 2024 campaign (May 30).

In that time, the London, ON, oval worked fervently to introduce a host of impactful upgrades, all anchored by a common vision, in advance of its upcoming 125-day meet.

“We want to enhance the guest experience,” said Greg Blanchard, director of equine programming at Western Fair. “Our facility’s been in kind of a state of flux with some ongoing work here, some expansion to the neighboring casino and other construction on site, which we’re finally seeing the finish line on a lot of.

“We really want to put a focus on getting more people on site this year for racing. We’re confident we’ve got a really good product, we’ve got a good betting product, but we also have a real good on track experience that we can offer customers… We’re excited to be able to get our facility back up to full capacity.”

With assistance from the Ontario Racing Capital Improvement Program, Western Fair was able to complete several meaningful projects both on and off the track.

The Raceway’s off-track headliner sets the stage for its on-track drama.

“We’ve got 1,500 new stadium seats in our grandstand and it looks great,” said Blanchard. “We had a small section of repurposed seating that we used for a number of years but felt it was time.

“We have a nice big grandstand and wanted to make it a better experience for guests on track. We’re looking forward to filling it throughout the season.”

In addition to the improvements within the grandstand, the tarmac in front of the sizable viewing center was paved to make the area more accessible for patrons hoping to get closer to the action.

Whether seated, against the rail, or watching from afar, Western Fair’s leading on-track upgrade is bound to drive fans’ attention.

Working in collaboration with engineering students from the University of Western and local sulky builder Dave Woods, Western Fair will introduce a new starting gate vehicle for the 2025 program and beyond.

“That project is one that we were really pleased to be able to collaborate with the Western students, supporting our local community and our post-secondary education system in London that’s second to none,” Blanchard said. “To be able to partner with that team and support these future engineers, and at the same time, fill a need that we had was a really cool collaboration.”

Woods, who has owned Advantage Sulky, a race bike-building business in Essex, ON, since 1993, consulted with the students and Western Fair to bring their ideas to life.

“Dave Woods built the vehicle for us,” Blanchard said. “He had built a starting gate vehicle for the Leamington [Raceway], and from all accounts they’ve been quite pleased.

“There aren’t many people that build starting gate vehicles, so to be able to find a guy fairly local to us and work with him is something we’re very happy about.”

The new starter car, which “looks great,” according to Blanchard, is on site and ready to undergo testing with the hope being that it will be ready for opening night.

Western Fair’s emphasis on supporting local has also extended into its culinary offerings, namely the Top of the Fair restaurant, located on the third floor of the grandstand.

“Our food and beverage team have really done a nice job the last couple of years and we’re proud of the food we’re putting out,” Blanchard said. “When it comes to food and beverage, we’re always trying to source locally as much as possible and work with local suppliers, and even folks that are on site here at Western Fair as part of The Grove and our farmers market. We’ve got a real strong partnership with a lot of the people who are already here selling their produce and producing food on a regular basis.”

The renowned dining space will host a number of exciting promotions this season, starting on opening night with a special event put on in conjunction with Gateway Casinos London.

“We’re looking to start things off with a bang,” Blanchard said. “We’re partnering with Gateway, our casino partners here at the Western Fair District, and this will be a night where we offer a really attractive dining, gaming, and racing package for guests.

“They’ll also have interactive games, contests and other giveaways throughout the night to go along with it. The dining room is filling up quick – it looks like it’s going to be a sellout.”

A pair of fan favorites in the Trifecta Tuesday promotion, which will now run twice monthly instead of once, and the Homestretch Grill concession on the main floor, are also returning this season.

October is slated to be an especially busy month with the arrival of several special events, including the first Trifecta Tuesday and start of the London Classic Yearling Sale (Oct. 14), as well as the 20th Anniversary edition of Harness The Hope (Oct. 17).

Other fall highlights include Caretaker Appreciation Night, the Driver’s Holiday Challenge (Dec. 9), and festive race dates on Boxing Day and New Year’s Eve.

On opening night eve, Thursday (Oct. 2), Western Fair will host qualifying races for horsepeople interested in activating their horses for the season ahead.

The baby races will also, as Blanchard added, provide one more opportunity to test out the starting gate before the real deal on Friday.

With so much to look forward to over a long, but productive offseason, the folks at Western Fair are eager to see fans fill the stands once again.

“It’s just nice for us to get back into the swing of things,” Blanchard said. “We hear from customers and it’s nice to hear that a lot of them miss our racing during the off-season, and they look forward to having us back. We’re very excited to kick things off on that Friday night.”