BGRA will Host Youth Derby Awards Night at Woodbine Mohawk Park

The Bill Galvin Racing Alliance (BGRA) is pleased to announce that we will host the 21 finalists of the Youth Literary Derby and Youth Art Derby on Saturday, October 17th at Woodbine Mohawk Park.

The top three finalists in each category will enjoy an action-packed afternoon and evening featuring:

·       A ride on a double-seated jog cart (courtesy of the Drive With Us program)

·       The VR "Drive To Win" experience

·       A harnessing demonstration and paddock tours

·       Opportunities to meet some of Canada’s leading drivers

·       A Winners’ Circle blanket presentation

The evening will conclude with dinner and an official awards ceremony for the students.

This event is made possible through the generous support of our sponsors and partners:

·       Tom Rankin: For the fourth consecutive year, prominent owner and breeder Tom Rankin has generously sponsored the prize money. Earlier this year, he also hosted an Open House at his St. Catharines breeding farm to inspire our young participants.

·       Central Ontario Standardbred Association (COSA): Generously sponsoring dinner for all finalists  as well as the Drive With Us program.

·       Equine Guelph: Providing online Youth Horse Behavior and Safety courses for finalists aged 13 and older.

·       Standardbred Canada: Providing complimentary Junior Memberships for the category winners.

We look forward to celebrating the achievements of these talented young writers and artists.

Finalists in the contests are as follows (in alphabetical order):

YOUTH LITERARY DERBY:

Poem-Junior - (Grades 3-5)

●      Anya Mathihalli of Caledon

●      Olivia Schiedel of Ayton

●      Karis Vyn of Ridgetown

Poem - Intermediate (Grades 6-8)

●      Supreet Kaur of Brampton

●      Chloe Yee of Newmarket

●      Sophia Zheng of Richmond Hill

Short Story - Junior (Grades 3-5)

●      Julia Baker of Paris

●      Christine Josiah of Brampton

●      Larissa Thompson of Guelph

Short Story, Intermediate(Grades 5-8)

●      Logan Benson of Hamilton

●      Mikaela Willard-Riordan of Guelph

●      Ruihan Zhao of Hamilton

YOUTH ART DERBY:

Junior:

●      Mia Cai of Ancaster

●      Alice Chen of Ancaster

●      Ruiya Zhao of Hamilton

Intermediate:

●      Logan Benson of Hamilton

●      Aabha Lamichhane of Brampton

●      Ruihan Zhao of Hamilton

Senior:

●      Kelton Jiang of Markham

●      Jacintha Riehl of Strathroy

●      Abigail Yarmoshuk of Glencoe

About the Bill Galvin Racing Alliance

A group of Ontario harness racing enthusiasts who were friends and associates of the late Bill Galvin, formed the BGRA to promote Ontario harness racing in the Hall of Famer’s honour.

The mission of the BGRA is to work together to create and encourage partnerships and programs that will promote and grow harness racing by engaging the public with the racing community.