Sports Special: B.C. Horse Racing Spectacular

Unlike most major league sports around B.C. horse racing has one big edge on its competitors: it’s free. Here you won’t hear about obscene salaries paid to pampered players. Slap a saddle on a thoroughbred, adjust your goggles and jockeys and animals alike are raring to go. Cheer on your favourite horse and jockey as they race to the finish line at historic Hastings Racecourse. Who will win is anybody’s guess. Odds are goods that spectators will have a good time no matter where they come from or what are their backgrounds.

Known for years as Exhibition Park, this east Vancouver fixture now boasts a new look with a new emphasis on family. Operators have been smart to make the sport more sociable and certainly more accommodating to the neighbourhood with free things like movie nights and daycare for local families. Above all else participants in this non-polluting industry that employs thousands in the agricultural sector throughout the province get to show their best on holiday Monday, B.C. Cup Day.

Only the best horses get to compete for purses that run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Scores of fans flock to the grandstands to participate in what has to be one of the most thrilling sports events of the year. And should you wish to place a wager there are now more areas to take a gander thanks to a major renovation geared towards making the whole horse racing experience more fan friendly to the masses.

Attend the races any day of the week and you will notice that the spectators are a carbon copy cross section of Metro Vancouver’s population. All ethnicities are well represented with enthusiasts from the Chinese, Philippine and East Indian communities among the eagle-eyed handicappers waiting to score a victory at the wire.