The owners of some of the best trotters and pacers to look through a bridle will come together during the upcoming 2015 racing season to implement a major fundraising program for the Standardbred Racetrack Chaplaincy of Canada.
Uxbridge horseman and philanthropist Norm Clements, well known in the world of harness racing as the co-owner of the famed Cam Fella, will chair a like-minded group of horsemen to raise funds for Chaplain Ken Carter’s homeless Standardbred Chaplaincy.
A small group of horse owners will be asked to donate to the Chaplaincy a small percentage of the purse earnings of one (or two) of their horses to the program and the Stable of Horses That God Loves.
The program is designed as a fundraiser for the Chaplaincy, but also to provide a good news story for the sport on a continuing basis throughout the entire racing season.
“We only want their best horses,” said Chairman Clements.
When the backstretch facilities closed at Mohawk Racetrack in Campbellville, Ont., in 2012, horsemen relocated to a dozen, or more, local training centres, but the Chaplaincy’s facilities, once provided by the Woodbine Entertainment Group (WEG), were not replaced.
Chaplain Carter is a career horseman. His Chaplaincy is a non-denominational, non-profit charity dedicated to providing for the emotional, spiritual, physical and human needs of the horse racing work force in southwestern Ontario. Food and clothing, recreation and healthcare, legal and financial, referrals, and counselling are just some of the services and activities provided 24-7. Chaplain Carter also visits the sick and injured workers in hospital, officiates at horsemen’s weddings, funerals, baptisms and memorial services, among a host of other day-to-day duties.
Norm Clements epitomizes the type of selfless, charitable work that has helped so many people. He is the founder of the Jennifer Ashleigh Children’s Charity which assists seriously ill children and their families. He provides Christmas dinners for shut-ins and the homeless, has opened up his farm property to homeless youth for summer camp experiences, and spends his free time in Bolivia to assist in missionary work and outreach programs for the homeless.
Brant County horseman Harry Rutherford, whose Cool Creek Farm Standardbred breeding operation in Mt. Pleasant, Ont., has produced a host of the sport’s trotting champions, will join chair Norm Clements, Dr. Roly Armitage, WEG race announcer, Ken Middleton, and horse racing publicist Bill Galvin on the fund-raising committee.
To date the owners of a dozen classy trotters and pacers have pledged their support for the program.
Tops on that impressive roster is Toronto owner John Fielding’s champion three-year-old trotting filly Shake It Cerry.
The talented 2014 Dan Patch Award recipient won 15 of 17 starts and $1.23 million in her brilliant 2014 campaign en route to U.S. Trotter of the Year honours.
(Standardbred Racetrack Chaplaincy of Canada)
Kudos to all of these fine
Kudos to all of these fine gentlemen for initiating and supporting such a fine cause. The people who labour behind the scenes are a very important but also an often forgotten part of our sport. Their lives are not always easy and many of them are less fortunate than we realize. Everyone benefits from a support system and knowing that someone cares . Thanks to the members of the Chaplaincy for being there.