The weekend didn't get off to the greatest start but the ending was good as thousands of people, both competitors and spectators took in the 2nd Annual Yorkton Dodge Chuckwagon Classic over the weekend.
Shaun Morin, president of the Yorkton Exhibition (YE), said that once they got past a rough outing on Friday which saw most of what was scheduled get cancelled, things picked up rather nicely on Saturday and Sunday.
He made the interesting point of noting that of all the events hosted by the YE, each one seems to draw a different crowd. Among the highlights of the year come the Harvest Showdown, also a 2.5/3 day event which usually fills the confines of the Gallagher Centre quite nicely, they all seem to have their role to fill in terms of the crowds they attract, says Morin.
"Every event seems to draw a different crowd," he explained to Yorkton This Week and hour or so before the final races got going at the Yorkton grandstand on Sunday.
"Something like this is more of a family event."
It was definitely a family event for a 30-year-old wagon racer based out of St. Walburg, SK.
BJ Carey brought his down for the weekend as they made their weekend home in a trailer along with a bunch of others on the east end of the grandstand.
"You've gotta love doing it. That is for sure," states the racer who was getting his team of horses strapped up for the final race of the weekend in which he placed in third."It's definitely a family affair."
He added that over the course of the wagon racing season, which goes from May to August, he's on the road for most of it.
"I love staying on the road, so do the horses," he added.
Morin said it's part of the goal of the YE to promote all events as a family-type event, attended to by numerous women and children off all ages.
"We're supposed to be promoting agriculture," he chimed in with a grin.
It's also a bit of a continuation of the pony chuckwagons, which Morin noted is among the highlights of the YE's summer fair in July, when the entire grandstand and parking lot turns into one big giant amusement park.
"We race the pony chuckwagons at the summer fair. It works out quite well."
Morin told the paper that the reason the CPCA makes a stop in Yorkton is that the grandstand track here is among the best in the west.
"The track is one of the best in the area," said Morin. "This track is always being worked on because of the standardbreds."
The harness racing that is known to take over the Yorkton grandstand Friday evenings throughout the summer months is one of the reasons the track is in such good shape, said Morin, a fact that Carey definitely agreed with.
"It's one of the best," he added.
Morin noted that the track is in good condition because they use a lot of water to keep the track in good shape.
"The track runs on 10,000 gallons of water on the track on race. There's a lot of getting ready for these races."
