By Jonny Turner
Next month’s open day is a chance for harness racing enthusiasts to find out more about ‘The Kentuckiana Way’.
Trainers Cran and Chrissie Dalgety will open the doors at Kentuckiana Lodge on Saturday, February 21 so that trotting enthusiasts can meet the team, check out their great facilities and get insights into how they prep their horses for their big targets.
Kentuckiana Lodge held its inaugural open day last year and it was such a success, they immediately decided to do it all again in 2026.
“We had a great day last year with people from all aspects of the sport coming along to check out our set-up and how we do things,” Cran said.
“There was a great mix of our existing owners, harness racing fans who were new to ownership and just those within the industry who came along to support the concept.”
“It is one of those things where you are almost a little nervous leading up to the event, you’re putting your operation on full display.”
“But the day was a great success and there was a great atmosphere around the place.”
Among the many reasons harness racing enthusiasts might want to come along to this year’s open day is the opportunity to learn the Kentuckiana Lodge way of doing things.
“Picking a stable is probably like picking an ice cream flavour – you’re spoilt for choice because they are all pretty good,” Cran said.
“We have a few years under our belts now and have a very loyal group of owners and supporters who enjoy the ride with us.”
“The way we go about things suits them and it suits us.”
“Probably the number one aim for us is our representation in the age group feature races.”
“We love working with young stock and aiming them at those good races.”
“Winning a race anywhere is a thrill, but if we can work towards those big targets it is a heck of a thrill for all involved.”
“Another thing we pride ourselves on is our communication.”
“We like to keep our owners updated directly through the MiStable app.”
“We also have a very active Facebook page and a website that we use to keep everyone updated.”
“Every stable goes about things differently, but we all have the same goals in mind.”
“If people would like to get more of an insight into how we go about things, coming to our open day is the best bet.”
The Kentuckiana Lodge Open Day will be held soon after the national yearling sales, which means attendees can check out the stable’s next batch of precocious young talent.
“Under the modern model of fractional ownership, we try to accommodate anyone who has an interest in one of our yearlings.”
“Republican Party would be one of the best examples of this, he has owners with larger shares right down to the smaller percentages.”
“Once all the pieces of the puzzle are fitted together, you end up with an ownership group who may not even know each other at the very start.”
“But they become great friends and enjoy all sorts of thrills.”
“Seeing our owners enjoy those thrills is why we like to accommodate all kinds of interest in our young stock, whether it be new owners or our existing clients.”
RSVP for Kentuckiana Lodge’s open day by clicking here.
For more information feel free to call Cran (027-436-0667) or Chrissie (027-278-9466), or email [email protected].
