by Brett Sturman

Two years after it was first announced and then later deferred, news came this week that Grand River Raceway will indeed be moving forward with plans to construct a five-eighths mile track from its current half-mile configuration.

With plans for the project — in which both of the track’s turns will be expanded — set to begin in August, the new track configuration will be in place and ready to go for the 2024 summer meet. With it, will bring a number of inherent benefits to all race participants involved with racing at Grand River; all of which comes down to being able to offer a better racing product.

The idea for the project was a long time coming and was something that Grand River’s recently retired director of operations Jamie Martin had long advocated. Now, others will share in those benefits, including the new Grand River racing manager, Chad Rozema.

Recently profiled here in HRU, Rozema’s excitement for the opportunity has been further bolstered now by news of the track expansion.

“I grew up here as a kid in Elmira, ON, which is about 15 minutes from Grand River’s racetrack,” Rozema said. “And having that half-mile track — that’s the grassroots of racing — it’s fun to watch and be around, but I just feel that a five-eighths being a bigger oval, opens things up. The five-eighths track can certainly cater to some higher capable horses and I feel like there’s more flow on a five-eighths track and that’s just going to make the product better for everybody whether you’re a horseperson or a horseplayer or a fan just watching.

“It’s going to make things more enjoyable. It’s a strong product that I think has gotten so much more to offer up and that’s what we’re looking towards with the transition to the five-eighths. You get better horses, better racing and it’ll improve what to me is already a strong product.”

With the aspect of giving more opportunities, especially with the emphasis on horses that draw outside posts, the track expansion will be a game changer. Last year’s results at Grand River show how it’s nearly impossible for horses to overcome the outside post; numbers which are even worse than the already low number of winners produced from outside posts at comparable half-mile tracks.

From 123 races conducted last year at Grand River on the pace in which there was a starter from post 8, just two horses won, equating to a percentage of 1.6 per cent. It was near identical results on the trotting side too. In 57 races with a starter from post 8, there was just one winner, coming out to a percentage of 1.8 per cent. These numbers alone show the need for a change, which the track will now receive.

The outside posts became even more difficult to overcome in races where a post nine trailer was included in the race, but nine horse fields on the new track configuration will be completely different. The winning percentage by post position will be far more evenly distributed than it has been and there will be more plentiful opportunities and chances for all horses in the race. Provided that the track continues with nine horses in a race, that will be a healthy field size number for driving handle.

“I fully expect an increase in handle,” Rozema said. “I intend to do my part to help promote that with a pumped-up wagering menu, something we’ll see if we can do that for this season, too. And anytime you can add some fuller fields and attract some better horses, now suddenly that makes the product more interesting to more people from all over that are going to play and then it grows from there.

“We’ve got a great driving colony and a lot of young up and comers that someday are likely to crack their way onto the WEG circuit. And if we can keep those, maybe even get some WEG circuit guys here on occasion, that’s going to make for excitement. All of which will attract more bettors. So, I fully expect and intend to have the wagering increase rather significantly once we go to the five-eighths.”

One of the more interesting aspects of the Grand River meet are the young, talented horses that debut throughout the summer. For those that don’t remember, it was Grand River that kicked off the career of the immortal Somebeachsomehwere, when he made his first two pari-mutuel starts at the Elora oval, sweeping through the Battle of Waterloo to kick off his illustrious career in what was just the track’s fifth season since inception.

“That’s the thing, my favorite horses are 2-year-olds,” Rozema said. “It’s always fun to try and see, just like you do in any sport, when a young phenom comes onto the scene and that’s exactly what we get at Grand River. You don’t know what you’ve got coming into the Battle of Waterloo or the Battle of the Belles for that matter. You can have an inkling, you can look at some lineage or you can maybe see a couple of lines, but you really don’t know. We couldn’t say for sure that Somebeachsomewhere was going to be a superstar but man oh man, that’s a great story to know that it started here. And many other greats have been around Grand River as well.”

The 2023 season at Grand River kicks off in just over a month on June 2, and the 48-date meet will run through Sep. 27. With the track playing host to a lot of provincial racing in Ontario Sires Stakes and highlighted by its signature Industry Day program on Monday (Aug. 7) with the best Ontario-sired horses in the sport, as well as the expansion project ahead, there is much promise ahead for the track.

“I’m so excited of course for my first year here and now with the news of the five-eighths transition next season makes me even more excited,” Rozema said. “And I don’t want to look too far ahead but it’s tough not to get pumped already for all that is upcoming.”