Benoit Frenette's phone is ringing non-stop again, and he couldn't be happier

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After three years on the sidelines of the sport he loved, the longtime race secretary at Hippodrome de Montreal has been confirmed as the new race secretary at Rideau Carleton Raceway in Ottawa.

"I'm a bit rusty - all the horse names are new - but it's nice to be back. You don't do this 31 years if you don't like it. And I like the atmosphere (at Rideau). It's a big family. I think it's going to be a great place to work," said Frenette, 49, who lost his job when Attractions Hippiques discontinued live racing in Montreal in 2008. Since then, he'd been working in the pro shop of a golf store north of Montreal in Boisbriand. "That was my other passion, golf," he said.

Frenette and Rideau Carleton general manager Jean Larose worked together for years at Hippodrome d'Aylmer. "For seven years, I went to Aylmer once a week," said Frenette. "Even after, we kept in touch."

Frenette succeeds Terry Lantz, who has assumed new duties as director of Rideau Carleton's sports group division. Larose said the division "will create a new dynamic between racing and all the sports organizations that exist in our region." Lantz was a natural for the job because of his knowledge and contacts in the sports community”, Larose said.

(Trot Insider exclusive by Paul Delean)