Page 28 - Speedhorse Canada Spring 2018

Evergreen Park is the venue for July and August where fans, supporters, back stretch workers, and race trackers gather to watch fast horses run.
it is. There are so many intricacies and complexities to it; it’s like the timing has to be perfect for your horse at the gates because if there’s a slight hesitation, a one thousandth of a second hesitation, your horse may need to make up ground. Or, the photo finishes literally make ev- eryone watching the race hold their breath until the race is declared official. One year, in the Challenge Championship I think, there were 7
horses within a length of each other, and there were 5 horses separated
by mere noses and heads. In fact, the big nights for our handle are the nights when the futurities, derbies and Challenge races are run. There’s so much electricity in the air that you can just feel the excitement.
“On behalf of Evergreen Park, I would just like to say how we value the Quarter Horses as an integral part of our racing program. When you
watch these horses dash down the straight away, it’s like the Olympics, and you wonder who is going to go through the trials to the finals. It’s so close in times that no one is sure of the outcome. Quarter Horse racing totally completes our race card, and so Evergreen Park would like to extend congratulations on 50 great years of racing and your fantastic anniversary.’’ - As told by Brian Cook, Race Coor- dinator Grande Prairie, Alberta
a horse has the heart and desire of a Champion, then I’m in love with it.
“The biggest day for fan and
total track attendance is the day of the Canada Cup races. No ques- tion about it, it’s our biggest day because it’s the Kentucky Derby of Quarter Horse racing in Alberta and there are hordes of people here. The excitement leading up to the race is unbelievable, and this year is going to be more spectacular than ever. Ron Sakamoto, who races Quarter
A TOTAL ADRENALINE CHARGE ROCKY MOUNTAIN TURF
“Quarter Horse racing is 100% excitement; it’s an immediate charge. I’ve owned Quarter Horses and I admire them immensely because they have bred and developed a horse that runs to its maximum capac-
ity one jump out of the gate. It’s all about an adrenaline rush because it’s great to see horses so focused. Then, “They jump out of that starting gate and they run fast and they run like hell.” This quote is stated by Max Gibb, in the very dramatic fashion
that the CEO of Rocky Mountain Turf brings to his race track. As he so aptly explains, “I’m passionate about horse racing, all horse racing, and I have been this way since I was eight years old and climbed on the back of a horse running fast. If you have seen the movie Seabiscuit, I could compare myself to Red Pol- lard, except without his talent, but I could fight better than he could,” he says chuckling. “There’s nothing like that feeling of being a jockey and if
28 SPEEDHORSE CANADA, Spring 2018