Willie Win had a blast at Grand River Raceway on Industry Day and he was happy to see all the kids that cheered him on.
Grandy the Grey, Sulky Sam, Jackpot and CR Trotter all showed up for the Mascot RoadShow season opener. Despite this intense competition, Willie didn’t let the pressure of the race get to him as he greeted everyone at the kid-zone and handed out some TROT 4 KIDS gifts. When the mascots were parading to the track the atmosphere became a little tense, but exciting. The mascots all lined up in their post positions behind the starting gate. When asked how he felt at that moment Willie explains, “I no longer cared about anything else in the world. My only concern was closing the gap between myself and the finish line.” Out of the gate in a hurry were Grandy the Grey and Sulky Sam, at that point Willie realized that in all this excitement he forgot to put his Olympic standard running shoes on. At the final length Grandy pulled ahead of Sam to take the win as a disadvantaged Willie continued the deep heated struggle for third against CR Trotter. Sadly Willie came in fourth, but only by a nose. Jackpot, came in a close fifth but quickly exclaimed, “I am happy enough to be invited to this event, especially since I just got my training wheels off.”
The very first Mascot Roadshow was an extremely thrilling one setting the bar high for those to come; it was also an important learning experience for some. “I certainly understand why harness racing values the proper maintenance of racing equipment,” says Willie with respect to his missing running shoes. Willie had such a blast that he didn’t really notice that he came in fourth. He is looking forward to his next race on the Mascot RoadShow at Clinton Raceway on August 16th for Fan Appreciation Day and can’t wait to see all the TROT 4 KIDS fans cheering him on!
The Mascot RoadShow at Grand River Raceway, 2009
