Hey! Oregon Can Race Too

by Brandon Enyeart

When you think of horse racing on the West Coast, a few tracks come to mind: Emerald Downs, Santa Anita, Del Mar, Hastings Park, but somehow we forget about the beautiful state of Oregon, which is sitting in the middle of it all, yelling, “Hey, we race horses too!”

If silks and blinkers are your idea of fun on a lovely Oregon summer day, than look no further than Grants Pass Downs. Though the usual nine-day meet was cut to eight days this year due to thunderstorms, that didn’t stop race fans from coming in numbers that exceeded last year’s attendance by 5%. Averaging 2,336 fans a day, Grants Pass Downs saw a total attendance of 18,685 this year. Not too bad for a city whose population tops out at only 23,003.

This year’s healthy turnout may owe some thanks to Grants Pass Downs' own Tag Wotherspoon. It would be safe to say that Tag loves the sport of kings--just a little. Hearing him talk about the action this year would remind you somewhat of a hummingbird in a florist shop. This was the former jockey agent’s third year as director of communications and marketing at Grants Pass Downs, and even through controversy, such the higher than normal fatality rate Oregon experienced last year, he manages to keep a very positive attitude about the sport he loves so much. In his own words, “These animals are athletes, just as basketball players are. Injuries come with the territory and unfortunately are often harder to treat in horses. I know both I and Grants Pass Downs care a great deal about the horses' and the jockeys' safety; this is evident in the precautions we have taken this year to make horse racing a safer sport.”

Although racing takes the spotlight for negative press regarding safety, equine fatalities marred New Jersey’s “Jersey Fresh” three-day eventing competition in both 2007 and 2008. Perhaps bad press can become a good thing, however, if it leads to improved safety for the horses that participate in all of these sports.

With larger racing venues such as Del Mar and Santa Anita changing to a possibly safer synthetic surface for their tracks, there is hope this will pave the way for smaller, more safety conscious tracks like Grants Pass Downs to follow in their footsteps.

Despite the tragedies and concerns, it is hard not to catch the horse-racing bug once you've seen these magnificent animals on the track. And with a local venue like Grants Pass Downs, there's no excuse not to join the fun.