Veteran pacer Howdy Partner made his 310th and final career start last Tuesday, and in doing so gave his longtime owner Craig Malott one final thrill to reinforce the reason why he got back into harness racing after stepping away a number of years ago.

Long before that moment, Malott worked in the racing industry for over a decade. He began as a hand for trainer Mike Rogers at Windsor Raceway, his home track, before going to work for Bob McIntosh. Then in 2012, like many Michigan and southern Ontario horsemen, Malott had to regroup following the closure of Windsor Raceway. He ended up leaving the business entirely and now works in construction and landscaping.

After a couple of years away, Malott said he “was getting a knack to kind of get back in.” Around this time he received an offer on a horse named Howdy Partner.

“A friend of mine had him in Michigan,” Malott said, “and she approached me about buying him, thought he’d be good for the two tracks that are kind of close to me, Dresden and Leamington. So I took a shot.”

Malott purchased Howdy Partner in the summer of 2015. By that point the Hawaiian Cowboy gelding had earned $82,655 over eight years racing on the Michigan circuit. Then aged 10, Howdy Partner raced 116 more times at Ontario’s 'B' and 'C' tracks. Through the twilight of his career Howdy Partner gave Malott consistent excitement, winning 16 times and banking an additional $59,451.

“When I bought him I was just hoping to break even,” Malott said. “He paid his bills every week, every month and he had a home. In my mind he’s done more than that. He’s provided me with a lot of thrills and a lot of great memories. Stuff that I can’t get back.”

Howdy Partner, pictured victorious at The Raceway at Western Fair District on Tuesday, December 31, 2019.

In his first few starts for Malott, Howdy Partner pulled a shocker at Western Fair Raceway. Starting from Post 6, he slowly drew into contention and swung to the lead in the stretch to win by three-and-a-half lengths at 84-1.

“We didn’t think he had a shot going down there,” Malott said. “He hadn’t been racing good and he just showed up and won by four or five pulling away at 80-1. That was a pretty amazing race.”

Howdy Partner gave Malott another rush in his race on October 21 last year at Leamington Raceway. At 13 years old, he raced uncovered while matching strides with the pacesetter and pulled away to win in hand.

“He got parked every single step and around the last turn he ended up drawing off on the competition and winning by four or five lengths,” Malott said. “That was just [an] unreal mile he went that day.”

The final year of racing for Howdy Partner became one of his most productive in Malott’s hands. He won four races from 28 starts and earned just over $17,000 while taking a mark of 1:56.4 at Sarnia.

“He wasn’t the fastest or the flashiest horse but he definitely had a big heart,” Malott said, “which I think kept him competitive right up until the end. His last start there he was probably the soundest and healthiest he’s been in the past five years.”

Due to rules requiring a Standardbred retire from racing at 15, Howdy Partner’s race on December 31 in London was the final of his career. He drew Post 7 in a conditioned claiming event going one-and-one-sixteenth miles, cleared the front and hit the finish first by a length.

“You couldn’t have wrote it any better,” Malott said. “That's stuff you see in the movies. It couldn’t have been a better night or fitting ending to his career. Not too many horses can go [at] 14 years old right out of the seven hole, parked four wide through the first turn and had challengers the whole way and fought them off.”

With Howdy Partner stepping off the track for the final time, Malott again sits outside looking into the sport from which he came.

“I’ll eventually buy something again when the time comes around,” Malott said. “Just got to kind of take it easy for awhile and maybe wait through the winter months and find something in the spring. You always come back. Once you get in it, it’s in your blood. It never goes away.”