Delaney: Nice night at Vernon Downs

Vernon Downs is open. It's spring.

The sun was shining Friday, it was pretty breezy but it wasn't snowing. A track official estimated 3,000 people came to the track's opening night. It's the first of 90 dates for 2009, the track's 56th year. Vernon Downs opened in May 1953 and there's been harness racing every year except 2005 when financial troubles kept the track closed.

From the people I met, there was a mixed bag of visitors. A woman from Jamesville was visiting with her children and her sister. A couple from the Syracuse-area came down for the racing and were going to stay the night in the adjacent hotel. There were two men in the upper grandstand, Vernon Downs lifers, who know horse racing.

"We sort of know what we're doing," said Marc Woodroe, of Liverpool, a self-described sophisticated bettor. "I come for something to do."

The crowd? Bigger than what I anticipated. The parking lot was nearly full when I drove in and one longtime fan felt the same way.

"It's a lot larger than normal," said Jim Corbin of Liverpool. "It's a lot more crowded than the past years."

An evening at a harness racing track isn't my scene, but there are a lot of people who are willing to give it a try.