For the third consecutive year, National Caretaker Appreciation Day (NCAD) events were held across the country this past weekend (September 18 - 20) as 11 racetracks, along with numerous farms, stables and training centres recognized and rewarded caretakers in partnership with Standardbred Canada.

“The Canadian harness racing community really stepped up to continue to support this initiative, despite the challenges and restrictions from COVID. We sincerely appreciate the participation and support of everyone involved,” said Kathy Wade Vlaar, SC’s Manager of Member & Stakeholder Relations.

Participating tracks this past weekend included: Century Downs Racetrack & Casino, Flamboro Downs, Grand River Raceway, Hippodrome 3R, Leamington Raceway, Kawartha Downs, Northside Downs, Red Shores – Charlottetown Driving Park & Summerside locations, Truro Raceway and Woodbine Mohawk Park. Clinton Raceway hosted a Caretaker Appreciation event a few weeks earlier on August 30. Several tracks that weren’t racing this past weekend are already in the planning stages for events later in the fall.

Some of the ways that tracks recognized caretakers with the help of their local horseperson’s association and / or sponsors, included: announcing names in post parades and the winner’s circle, having gifts for winning caretakers and last place caretakers, having prize draws, providing complimentary refreshments and providing complimentary win photos.

“Caretaker Appreciation Day was a huge success at Leamington Raceway,” according to track announcer Nathan Bain. “We were so happy to honour these hard-working individuals. Leamington gave each winning caretaker and last place caretaker a gift card, and COSA provided one HPI card for each race. We announced the caretakers' names in the post parades, and one of our regular caretakers, Tammy Durbridge, was interviewed for our live stream to talk about her experience as a caretaker.”

Robin MacKay, the coordinator of the Woodbine Mohawk Park event said, “It was a fantastic night and the caretakers really appreciated everything that was done. Many thanks to all of the people in the industry who generously donated to the event and thanks to everyone who made this event possible. We look forward to taking part again next year.”

The Central Ontario Standardbred Association (COSA), the Woodbine Mohawk Park driving community, Richard Moreau Stable, SSG Gloves, Ontario Racing, and Greenhawk all supported the Mohawk event.

Many of the tracks and associations promoted the event with videos, Facebook profiles and some featured interviews with caretakers on their race day broadcasts.

Truro Raceway featured profiles on many of their regular caretakers on their Facebook page.

Red Shores Racetrack and Casino’s Marketing Coordinator, Stephanie Mitchell, produced this video in recognition of their caretakers at Charlottetown Driving Park and Summerside properties.

For the second consecutive year, TheStable.ca ran a GoFundMe campaign for its owners. “Our amazing clients from around the world contributed $4,000 to this year's tip pool for our caretakers and riders. Our staff are awesome, and our clients aren't too shabby either,” quipped Anthony MacDonald. TheStable.ca was one of many stables and farms across the country that hosted complimentary lunches, and provided some type of gift for their staff.

Standardbred Canada would like to thank the caretakers across the country who put the horses first, keeping them healthy & happy, and for everything they do to keep the races going, especially during the challenging circumstances this year.

Later this week, SC will be posting a video, featuring photos from events across the country.

(Photos in first collage courtesy, clockwise from top left: Travis Forbes, Lynette Bain, Racehorsephoto.com, Sylvain Gagnon)