Dresden Raceway 2017 season finale. August 6, 2017. (Photo courtesy of Gary Patterson). Dresden Raceway 2017 season finale. August 6, 2017. (Photo courtesy of Gary Patterson).
Chatham

Dresden Raceway welcoming fans back to the track

Dresden Raceway is welcoming fans to the track for series of races on Canada Day this Thursday.

The track is allowed to operate at 25 per cent capacity, which works out to be 600 people, under the second stage of the province's reopening plan.

Raceway spokesperson Gary Patterson said he's excited to get back to an 'electric' atmosphere the races are known for.

"It's a great sport but there's been no vibrancy flowing through the races," he said. "The whole atmosphere is absolutely amazing when you have fans, in any kind of sporting event really, so this is going to be really good for the track."

Fans will be able to watch from the raceway apron and the open-air grandstand.  They will also be allowed in the lower grandstand, but only to wager and use the restrooms.

"It's going to be wonderful to have fans back cheering on the horses," Patterson said.

Restrictions around the pandemic caused the raceway to stream its events online which resulted in a loss of revenue for the business.

"It's been very difficult because we got shut down," said Patterson. "It's an outdoor sport but when we were shut down, everyone sort of just scratched their heads. We had things in place for last year when things were shut down because people could still social distance while racing but unfortunately it wasn't seen that way so we couldn't race. We are a smaller track and small tracks rely on people to be there and wager money."

According to Peterson, this will be the first season where facial coverings are mandatory. He said fans will also have to undergo a COVID-19 screening and temperature check before entering.

"We've got a lot of different protocols in place and it will be very different, but hopefully by stage three, we will be able to open up."

Fans can register prior to the event by sending their name, phone number and the number of people in their group to dresdenracewayreservations@outlook.com.

They can also register by sending a private message to Dresden Raceway’s Facebook page.

Read More Local Stories