Blogs

Meant To Be And Meant For Me

Posted Date:

Tuesday, April 7, 2020

She may just be 15, but Gracie Mae Barr has always had a thing for the horses. This young Thamesford, Ontario miss grew up watching both of her parents, Scott and Bethany, work in the business of harness racing. “There is no chance that I wasn’t going to be into the horses,” states Barr. “My parents are into harness racing - my Dad trained full time and my Mom works the London Selected Yearling Sale... The day I was born (March 8, 2005) my Dad raced two horses, Coyote Sam and Future Honey, at Western Fair Raceway and they both won! For me - I think it’s just...

Michigan owner rolls the dice on Thatmomentinlife

Posted Date:

Sunday, April 5, 2020

Michigan’s David Omicioli, owner of the good race mare Turbo Diva, reached out to us recently after reading up on some people stories at The Raceway. “We’re also on lockdown,” reports Omicioli. “Hopefully we see a vaccine developed soon for this coronavirus... I miss my horses and I miss hanging out at the racetracks…” Turbo Diva raced in London for trainer Tim Myers and now finds herself stabled in Hamburg, New York. “She was able to race one time at Buffalo Raceway (a fourth-best finish on March 11) before that track closed,”...

“He was getting tired into the stretch, but he dug in!”

Posted Date:

Friday, April 3, 2020

Like so many others, involved in harness racing, horseman Lorne House was born and raised into the business as well... “Indeed I grew up in it," he says. "My Dad, Mike House, had horses and my Grandfather, Alf Smith, he raced horses too.” It’s now been about 20 years in the business, for House, as a licensed harness trainer and driver in Ontario. His first career training win would come in London, with Fluid Drive, on November 4, 1999… “He was the first horse I ever owned too,” says House. “Don McElroy would have drove him and many...

She’ll pass on any hockey game to race her horses!

Posted Date:

Wednesday, April 1, 2020

“We’re still quite busy, with a stable of 15 horses,” says young horse owner Cassidy Schneider. “The only thing, that’s really changed, is the fact that we don’t race now… We still jog and train them… We’re still doing our thing week in and week out.” Schneider, at just 18 years of age, can almost remember becoming a racehorse owner back in 2007… “I do know it was Arizona Gem,” she says. “He was the first horse in my name, because (at that time) I wasn’t allowed in the paddock - so my dad...

Bettors' Corner expert reflects on a life of harness racing

Posted Date:

Tuesday, March 31, 2020

With a very light schedule of harness racing taking place throughout the world, right now, it was easy to catch up with lifelong harness racing fan and bettor Melissa Keith. A recent winner of the 2019 John Hervey Award (for feature writing) at the Annual Dan Patch Awards - Keith, of Lower Sackville, Nova Scotia, had been a recent addition to the Bettors' Corner - featured on the Ontario Racing website. Keith’s Friday night in-depth analysis, for The Raceway, was just starting to heat up - when all of a sudden - Ontario harness racing came to a halt due to the corona-virus....

"This is Foiled Again being awesome!"

Posted Date:

Monday, March 30, 2020

Foiled Again! He may not have won the 2014 edition of the Molson Pace, at The Raceway, but he would certainly live up to the hype for and in that race - my first 'big race' call in Ontario - after moving from Alberta during the Fall of 2013... This particular race call was going to be a HUGE deal for this small-town guy from P.E.I.! I can remember being very nervous, beforehand, on the day of May 30, 2014. Some big name horses were coming to London - Foiled Again, Apprentice Hanover and State Treasurer - among others... And then the list of drivers, for the big race, was very...

McNiven & Fresco: They're Off And... Riding!

Posted Date:

Friday, March 27, 2020

Here we go... So what does an older racehorse and a younger racehorse owner do with no horse racing currently taking place in Ontario? Right now - it's an easy answer for Putnam's Kelley McNiven... "We ride!" At twenty years of age, McNiven - a student of family studies and psychology at Brescia University - is aiming towards a career in the education field. "My career aspirations always changed as a child," she says. "As much as I love animals, I'm not good with blood so, unfortunately, being a vet was never an option for me." So going forward...

Let's Talk About Fex

Posted Date:

Thursday, March 26, 2020

Here we go... He's a 'behind the scenes kind of guy' at The Raceway, but a very important player on our team - he's Chris Fex - who looks after the production graphics for our race night broadcasts. "I enjoy editing video and had a YouTube channel of my own," says the 34-year-old from London. "Some friends, of mine, knew of The Raceway's production manager Mark McCullough (owner of MMC Productions) and he then got to looking at some of my video work... I ended up applying for a production position in late 2016 and got hired on here in 2017."...

After Hours With Horse Owner Stew McQueen

Posted Date:

Tuesday, March 24, 2020

Here we go... With his 'growing up' ties to London and now his 'making a living' life in Sarnia - Raceway horse owner Stewart McQueen has been going to the horse races for as long as he can remember... "My Dad (Jack) loves the horses and we'd go to Orangeville back in the day..." says McQueen. "And please - call me Stew - the only one that calls me Stewart is my Mom and it's usually when I know I'm in trouble," he chuckled. "Dad had horses with trainer Peter Shody years ago and that's likely how I got the bug too," notes McQueen...

The Green Grass Can’t Some Soon Enough!

Posted Date:

Tuesday, March 24, 2020

Here we go… And here we are catching up with Raceway owner/trainer Stephen ‘Ribsy’ Roberts. Stabled just outside of London, in Melbourne, Roberts says “The green grass can’t come soon enough!” While this unexpected break, from racing, will likely freshen up his ‘busy-type’ horses, he’d still rather be trucking in to the track on race days… “What are you going to do? I’m stabled in Melbourne and living right next door to my horses, so the bills aren’t too bad… Hopefully we’re not away from the races...