Western Fair 2025-26 season went out with a bang
by Matthew Lomon
It was a picture-perfect night, both on and off the track, as The Raceway at Western Fair District bid farewell to its 2025-26 meet on Friday (May 29), capped by a Camluck Classic program for the ages.
“The atmosphere was awesome,” said Amy O’Toole, manager of equine programming at Western Fair. “The patio was packed, we had food trucks, live music, lots of giveaways, t-shirt tosses – there was a lot going on. It was a fun event. Everyone was there, it was all smiles and laughter.”
Morale was high across the board as fans, horseplayers, and horsepeople, alike, were treated to a record-setting night of racing on a long overdue picturesque day in London, ON.
“Mother Nature was tough on us all winter, but we finally got some nice weather,” O’Toole said. “Our attendance was one of the highest I can remember in recent years. I got lots of comments from guests saying that they didn’t remember it ever being that busy, so that was amazing.
“It’s so fun to see the stands packed like that. To see others coming out and enjoying something that you’re passionate about, which a lot of work goes into. It’s very rewarding and why we all do it.”
Headlining the dazzling on-track display was Tom Hill homebred Lou Hill, who with reigning Dan Patch Driver of the Year Jason Bartlett in tow, delivered on his lofty 1-5 favorite status with a 1½-length triumph in the $150,000 Camluck Classic.
Track history was also made by a pair of veteran performers in 5-year-old pacing mare Grit N Grace and 6-year-old trotting gelding Passarino.
The former, a Lorraine Rey homebred trained by Michael Kwietniowski, reset the record books after wiring the $50,000 Forest City Pace in 1:52.2 with Jody Jamieson in the race bike.
The new watermark for older pacing mares at the Raceway bested the former figure held by Camille and Gia’s Surreal by two-fifths of a second.
Not to be outdone, the Garry Merner-trained Passarino took home the $16,000 preferred trot in 1:54.3 to stamp a new track trotting record under the direction of reinsman Mark MacDonald.
On hand for the night’s feats was a boisterous crowd of familiar and fresh faces.
“There were a lot of younger people we noticed, so that was something promising that we liked to see,” O’Toole said. “We’re noticing people are starting to remember the event and put it in their calendars to come back every year. We’re hitting the younger crowd, too, which is nice because they tell their friends.
“We’re noticing a lot of that in the ads we run for it on our social media. People are commenting, tagging their friends – it’s turned into an event that people enjoy coming to with their friend groups.”
O’Toole added that she and the Western Fair team were “very pleased” with the night and “tremendous card of racing” that generated a significant uptick in live handle over last year’s Camluck Classic.
“The overall bet was around $825,000 for the program, and that’s pretty strong for our track, especially with the heavy competition on Friday nights,” she said.
“Our live handle for Camluck Night was up about 15 per cent from last year, and it’s on par with some of our biggest nights, so it feels good to be in that ballpark again. It feels like we’re going in the right direction.”
There were plenty of proud moments for the folks at The Raceway beyond a storybook finale, including the immortalization of one of the track’s most memorable equine stars, So Much More.
The two-time Forest City Pace champion, who collected 79 wins and more than $1.86 million in purse earnings across her remarkable career, was formally inducted into The Raceway’s Wall of Fame on Friday (May 15).
“That was a really cool one,” O’Toole said. “We hadn’t inducted anyone since 2019, when we honored [longtime local horseman] Larry Fitzsimmons. So, we sat down and talked about doing it again and thought she was the perfect horse, and that it was the perfect time to do it.
“We brought her connections out and had a trackside ceremony that night. It was special, I know they were really happy.”
That same night, the track also unveiled a new logo for the Forest City Pace, which will officially be renamed in honor of So Much More beginning next season.
“Nobody knew that was happening except for the connections and us,” O’Toole said. “It was a nice little addition to the Wall of Fame induction to have a race named after her.”
The most recent campaign also happened to be especially memorable for Michael and Shae Sumner, the father-and-daughter team behind ageless mare Ladies From Hell, who’s brilliance made her a double winner at this February’s Western Fair Awards.
After 10 victories and earnings of more than $67,000, the 12-year-old marvel repeated as Aged Pacing Mare of the Year and was the unanimous choice for Overall Horse of the Year, The Raceway’s top honor.
“They were so ecstatic,” said O’Toole of the Sumners. “They’re local connections who stable at Cerro Stables, which is about 10 minutes away from Western Fair. Cerro also sponsored that award, so that was special for them to present it to them. They were so proud — I know they just love her — and it was nice to see.
“She’s caught the attention of everyone around here… she’s got 62 wins now.”
Trainer Lindsey Kerr enjoyed a standout season of her own, celebrating a pair of division winners (Claiming Pacer, Aged Pacing Horse) as well as capturing her first London training crown.
“She’s stabled at Dorchester Downs Training Centre, which we own, so that was a special one, too,” O’Toole said. “She had a challenging winter, and [Leading] Trainer was coming down to the wire, but it was nice to see that she was still able to get the awards.”
Giving back to the community was another point of emphasis for The Raceway this season, particularly through the Drivers’ Holiday Challenge in support of Toys for Tots.
“It’s becoming one of my favorite events,” O’Toole said. “This year, our marketing team spoke to one of the families the event helps, and it makes you realize more and more how many people we’re actually helping.
“I’m excited that we’re going to try and grow it even more this year.”
The facility at Western Fair also benefited from a handful of Ontario Racing-funded renovation projects, namely a new starting gate vehicle, upgraded paddock stalls, and new grandstand seating.
“The starting gate was built locally, and it was a huge upgrade,” O’Toole said. “There were no issues at all. The new paddock stalls were a nice improvement. We get comments about how nice our paddock looks from people that don’t come very often, and even some of the new drivers coming into town.
“The new grandstand seating really lifted the look out there. On the big nights, there was barely an empty seat. We appreciate having that for all our race nights, but our biggest ones especially.”
With another successful season now in the rearview, O’Toole and Co. will get a few well-deserved days to come up for air before commencing preparations for the London Classic Yearling Sale (Oct. 13-14).
“Entries closed about a month ago, so we’re putting together the master list and getting all that information organized,” she said. “That’s our focus for the summer.
“The sale is something we all love. It’s a fun event to plan and organize, and then see the horses that are entered, look them up, see which horses we’re getting, and then get to watch all their siblings that we’ve sold race all summer.”
Yearling sale prep is merely item number one on a lengthy offseason to-do list that the team at The Raceway at Western Fair will spend the next four months working through, in pursuit of raising the bar yet again.
“After that, we’ll sit down and plan out next year,” O’Toole said. “We’ll probably do that fairly soon. Get an idea of all of our events, what we need for them, and how we can make them better. I think everyone’s going to enjoy a little downtime and then get right back into it.”
