Sunday (June 24) will be a special day at Dresden Raceway that will see two former friends share the track spotlight once again.
Trainer Mark Austin and former NHLer and owner Ken Houston will both be honoured on Sunday as the Mark Austin Pacing Series will come to a close with the $12,700 final and the Ken Houston Memorial Pace will hit the track as well.
Austin got his start at Dresden Raceway in the 1980s, and quickly became well-liked and respected because of his exceptional talent with horses and his friendly nature. The Chatham, Ont. native quickly moved up in the ranks and moved his stable to Windsor, where he trained his own horses and worked with Jack Darling. Austin then moved to Fergus, Ont. when Windsor Raceway declined and was always a solid competitor, as he trained top horses such as Sparky Mark and Fool Me Once before he passed away suddenly in 2014.
Houston was a lifelong lover of horses, growing up in Dresden, and became an owner when he made it to the National Hockey League. He was drafted by the Atlanta Flames in 1973 and played nine seasons with Atlanta, Calgary, Washington, where he had six 20-goal seasons.
Austin was the conditioner for Houston’s horses, including multiple Ontario Sires Stakes winner Spare Time Warrior, as well as Fish My Pal and Hosit The Colors.
Several of Houston’s former teammates in his NHL days and Alumni days will be at the track to honour their friend. Eric Vail, John Gould, Pat Riggin, Pat Ribble, Tom Williams, Dave Hutchinson and Ray Markham will join current star TJ Brodie at the track.
Dresden Raceway will be inducting Houston into the Dresden Raceway Hall of Fame, where he will join Austin, who was inducted last year.
Dresden Raceway has dubbed the day Hockey Day, with all hockey players from minor hockey systems and junior teams welcomed for the day.
An auction will be held to raise money for the Ken Houston Memorial Scholarship Fund; items will include signed jerseys from Frank Mahovlich, Lanny McDonald, Travis Konecny, Tyson Barrie, Claude Giroux and others. A set of John Campbell’s autographed colours will also be up for grabs, as well as a suite for a Windsor Spitfires game and tickets to the Sarnia Sting and London Knights.
Other auction and raffle items will include Hambletonian swag, a Mats Sundin autographed picture and a Wendel Clark autographed puck.
Post time Sunday is 1:30 p.m. To view the entries for Sunday's card, click the following link: Sunday Entries - Dresden Raceway.
(Dresden Raceway)