The word “popularity” has been described as “the quality of being widely admired, accepted and sought after”

. That having been said, meet Casie Coleman.

The 29-year-old Surrey-born harness racing trainer who has reached success at the top level of her industry has been overwhelmed by the reaction to her request for help to raise funds for the Burn Unit at the Royal Jubilee Hospital in Victoria.

“Those people saved my life,” Coleman says, referring to a barn accident 10 years ago at Sandown Park when she was a teenager working as a groom. “Now it’s my turn to help them.”

Casie suffered third-degree burns to her legs and right arm and first-degree burns to her cheeks and neck when flames erupted as she was mixing an alcohol-based liniment to warm her horse’s feet.

Since that time Casie has been recognized on two occasions with O’Brien Awards as Canada’s Trainer of the Year. She has trained some of the best pacers in the sport, including world record holder Sportswriter.

As part of BC Breeders Classic Day at Fraser Downs on Wednesday, Nov. 11, Coleman will be a special guest as she hosts a gigantic silent auction with total proceeds going to Royal Jubilee Hospital. A majority of the auction items will be on display this weekend in the Atrium at Fraser Downs.

Adding to the all of the excitement, of course, are the four featured stakes races as part of the afternoon card: the BC Breeders Stake for 2-year-old fillies; the BC Breeders Stake for 2-year-old colts and geldings; the Mary Murphy BC Breeders Stake for 3-year-old fillies; and the BC Breeders Stake for 3-year-old colts and geldings. Not only will the best pacers in their respective categories be competing but also the usual lineup of top Fraser Downs drivers with the addition of a guest visit by two-time O’Brien Award winner Mark MacDonald.

When Mark MacDonald confirmed his presence last week, his counterpart from the Ontario circuit, Rick Zeron, was quick to add his name to one of the biggest events of the Fraser Downs standardbred season.

Each of the noted driving ‘super stars’ has drawn 12 assignments on the 14-race card that begins at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday with two non-wagering $40,000 BC Breeders Stakes. MacDonald will drive heavy favourites Fast Lane Delila in the 2-year-old fillies division and True Humility in the 2-year-old colts and geldings division. Both are co-owned by Rod Therres and Charlie MacFarlane, last year’s B.C. owners of the year.

MacDonald (Id Rather Be Lucky) and Zeron (Legal Suspensory) match talents on the co-favourites in the $75,000 Mary Murphy Breeders Stake for 3-year-old fillies. Zeron also drives Segomo in the $75,000 Robert Murphy Breeders Stake for 3-year-old colts and geldings, one of the two races MacDonald will watch from the sidelines.

MacDonald and Zeron combined to win seven races on last year’s BC Breeders Classic program and donated their winnings to charity.

First race post time for the action packed card of racing is 1:15 Pacific Time, with two non-wagering stakes events contested before the card. Those races start at 12:30 PT. To view the entries, click here for the non-wagering events and click here for the full card.

With the list of auction items steadily growing, here are just some of the donations:

• Free breeding to Badlands Hanover

• Two weeks accommodations in England (airfare not included) at the Park Lane Holiday Homes and Country Club which is located beside the beach in NW England, seven minutes from Liverpool and 1 hour from Manchester

• One week accommodations in Las Vegas (airfare not included) at the Las Vegas Desert Club located one block off the strip

• A tour of the Parliamentary Buildings, plus dinner for two in the exclusive Parliamentary Dining Room and seats in the Gallery for Question Period

• Brand new Black Harness

• One horse magnetic blanket and one human magnetic back pad

• $1200 worth of Swedish Horsepower vitamin supplies - assorted

• Trot Magazine jacket

• Painting by Alana Main

• Autographed Colors from John Campbell, Tim Tetrick and David Miller

• Decorative outdoor Pedestal

• Wire corner shelf with ivy

• Assorted horse vitamins

• A Doyle Transport gift certificate

• Gift Baskets containing an MP3 player, cordless phone and electric shaver

• Also many other exciting donations

The auction items will be on display and available for bids in the Fraser Downs Atrium from Sunday November 8th to Wednesday November 11th at 3pm.

If you would like to bid on any of these exciting items and are unable to attend, you can place your bids by phone thru Kelly Hudon @ 604-312-8000.

(with files from Fraser Downs)