I made my way out to Rosecroft Raceway recently for its “I Want To Be A Driver” event. Basically it is a mini-camp for harness racing! People buy tickets and they get a crash course invitation to experience harness racing. There wasn't a lengthy lecture or boring explanation of the history of the sport. The people showed up, signed some waivers, and boom, to the paddock we went! They keep the group total small so participants could get as much exposure and hands-on experience as possible. Once at the paddock, we threw on some goggles, helmets and vests, and made our way over to a real-life racehorse. Three out of the four in my group had never been this close to a horse, so they were excited to just pet it! The fourth was a professional riding teacher, but had never worked with a harness horse, so her curiosity was on a completely different level. The group talked to some drivers and trainers as they showed everyone the harness and equipment. We did some additional petting, took some selfies, and bing, bang, boom, within 30 minutes we hit the track for a warm-up lap! Sitting in a double-seated jog cart with one of the pro drivers guiding the way to keep safety standards high, participants got their first real adrenaline rush! We came back in, had more paddock interactions, selfies, petting, and then went back out for the race. Yeah, a real live race going 30 mph while in close quarters with wind and dirt kicked up . . and they thought the warm-up lap was fast! Afterwards, we ate some dinner, took even more selfies and the night was complete. I filmed a ton of content for Rosecroft and we'll be releasing video footage, interviews, etc. so you can view the full experience. As I was filming, two points came to mind: 1) These people have no connection to harness racing and all they cared about was the welfare/lifestyle of the horse. Asking questions like, "How many carrots a day do they eat?" or "What do they do for fun?" Overall, we need to do a better job at articulating and conveying to the public that we love the horses, the horses are taken care of, and that the horses are our top priority. 2) I don't know how many tracks do this type of event, but there is no excuse as to why this isn't happening at least once each month at EVERY track. The blueprint is out and it fundamentally works (maybe a few changes can be made but the key here is that they BUY tickets, so you can't hide behind Profit/Loss excuses). It's ok to follow and join in on an idea, even if you're late to the party. It has everything a new, younger fan would want. The event was quick, busy, fun, educational, adrenaline-filled, safe and had the added benefit of personal exposure to the product. Cloverleaf SOA and Rosecroft put in a lot of care and work to organize these events and their efforts are rewarded one amazing fan experience at a time. At this point though, if these events don't start multiplying in the near future, sadly I can only think of two reasons why not . . . laziness and/or apathy, and neither is acceptable. Rosecroft has neither.