Mike Woebkenberg, the Ohio-based harness racing starter who is best known for his penchant for introducing folks to the sport by giving them a ride in his gate, has once again put together a Fair Judges Seminar, to help prospective and returning county fair judges.
It is the only kind of meeting thus held for judges at the county fair level in North America and this is the fourth year Mike has organized the program. The seminar will be held on Saturday, June 1, beginning at 9:30 am at the Washington Court House Fairgrounds, located at 213 Fairview Ave., Washington Court House, Ohio.
āWe have the best county fair races that go for the highest purses, and we need the best judges,ā Mike offered. āThus far we have 42 attendeesāfrom Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, and Illinois. Judges in other states donāt have an opportunity to attend anything similar since Ohio is the only one with this program.ā
āI do a continuing education program every fall for the USTA,ā Mike continued. āAnd a lot of guys had approached me about putting on a seminar for county fair judges, and so thatās what I decided to do. A lot of trainers got their licenses 40 years ago, and likely havenāt picked up a rule book since then. The rules change constantly, theyāre like a river, theyāre flowing all the time. My pari-mutuel judges have to do 16 hours every two years and thereās nothing set up for the county fair judgesāand if you can judge at an Ohio fair, you can judge anywhere.ā
Meeting speakers include longtime Ohio judge Doug Thomas and the USTAās T.C. Lane.
āThereās so many unique things to fair racing and fair judgingāat the pari-mutuels you donāt have semis parked in the infield for instance,ā Mike stressed. āItās a completely different environment and people who donāt go to fairs donāt realize those differences, such as we donāt have a paddock judge to get horses to the racetrack.
āI love fair racing and that it is important as the backbone of harness racing,ā Mike stressed. āFairs have an economic and political impact. I can talk to my state reps there and tell them how much I love racing and want to see it continue. My state rep is the chair of Ohio Agricultural department, and he might not vote the way I want him to, but I know heāll ask me about anything related to harness racing and the county fairs.ā
Mike said many states, unlike Ohio, do not have pari-mutuel wagering, which changes the dynamics in the judgeās stands across the Midwest.
āSome of the Ohio fairs do not have pari-mutuel wageringāso you might judge at Urbana where they have pair-mutuel wagering and the next day you go to Marysville, where there is no wagering. So, my county fair judges have to be more in tune with whatās going on in the rules department,ā Mike added. āOhio put in a vest law that is mandatory at the fairs, and we have guys that think they donāt have to wear one, and guys who want to warm their horses up in shorts and a t-shirt. Weāre putting on a show and horsemen have to realize that, and itās important that the county fair judges call out guys who arenāt adhering to the rulesāeven when warming up.ā
āWe have a great business, and Iām trying to make it better by making my judges better. And that makes the fair board happy too,ā Mike added. āāOne of my goals in this meeting is to have everyone participate and talk about issues which happen at the county fair level.ā
Folks who would like to attend Saturdayās seminar can contact Mike at 937-313-2221.
by Kimberly Rinker, for Harnesslink