Quebec standardbred owner Randy Zane figures his horses have had about 1,000 winner's circle photos over the past 30 years, "and my dad (Ron) was probably in 980 of

them."

Ron Zane, who died of a heart attack in Florida in March at age 83, will be remembered Saturday in a memorial service at 2:00 p.m. at Complexe Funeraire Mont-Royal, 1297 Chemin de la Foret, Outremont.

"He never missed a race (at Hippodrome de Montreal) unless he was out of town," said Randy, 51. "He's the one who got me interested in harness racing initially. He loved them even more than me."

Ron's favourite horse was his son's former pacer Lincoln Parke. "He was our first sub-1:50 horse. I had caps made with the horse's name on it and he wore it all the time. He had it on the day he died," Randy said.

Ron Zane worked in marketing for pump manufacturer Darling Brothers. After retiring from Darling, he joined Randy's company, Produits Sanitaires Prescott, a distributor of paper and cleaning products, and stayed until 2006, when failing eyesight caused him to take his leave.

(A Trot Insider Exclusive by Paul Delean)