On October 16th and 17th, and again on October 23rd and 24th, we celebrated the best in Standardbred racing at Scioto Downs, in Ohio, with a weekend of Breeders Crown eliminations, followed by a weekend of championship finals.

In between, on October 18th, 3,722 kms away, the unthinkable happened, as popular Canadian reinsman Scott Knight was tragically killed in a racing accident at the new Desert Park Raceway in Osoyoos, British Columbia.

Same sport.

World’s apart.

In Ohio, we were celebrating the ‘good’ horses, the ‘good’ drivers and the ‘good’ trainers. The best-of-the-best, people often say. And we should celebrate them - they’re the stars and they deserve the spotlight.

Scott Knight was good too, though. REALLY GOOD.

Read about him in our special six-page section in this issue (on pgs 26-31) and you’ll learn just how good.

A really good father, a really good friend, a really good brother, a really good son. A man who, by all accounts, NEVER got mad, and was always happy and smiling. A man who was always there to help his friends, whether it was visiting them in the hospital, daily, for months, or taking care of their farm - without even being asked - when they were unable to. Scott Knight was a man who treated EVERYONE with respect, and a man who made the lives of all the people around him better.

One might say that Scott Knight was the best-of-the-best.

I’m not saying - in a million years - that we shouldn’t celebrate the best horses and people in our sport. In this case, ‘the best’ meaning the fastest, most talented and accomplished on-the-track.

What Scott’s passing does have me thinking though, especially after recently having late night, heartfelt conversations with some of his closest friends, is why don’t we celebrate the BEST people more often? I mean, before we’re speaking about them at their funerals.

I realize it’s human nature, that society focuses on the best-looking movie stars and singers, the most accomplished athletes and so-on.

The plain-looking actor or actress who plays a bit-part as a non-speaking extra in one scene of a movie probably doesn’t have 20 million followers on social media; Sports Illustrated probably doesn’t put a fourth-line winger from the Winnipeg Jets on their cover; TROT usually doesn’t do a feature story on a trainer that rarely wins a race.

Maybe we should though?

NOTE: Here at TROT we do try to cover the ‘little guy’ whenever possible, and, for example, once did a cover feature on an under-sized, seven-year-old gelding from Manitoba, named Marvtherat, who had been born a twin and didn’t even have 10 career wins at the time.

But I digress.

My point is that Scott Knight was an incredible human being. Maybe I feel a bit guilty in that I’m the managing editor of our national harness racing publication and I didn’t know that about him. I’m not sure?

How would I have known that? I’m not sure that I should have, I suppose, but maybe it all begins with the title of this column? Maybe we should consciously start celebrating the good instead of always just celebrating the good.

The O’Brien Awards might be a place to start.

The NFL has The Walter Payton Man of the Year Award, which is given to a player who demonstrates excellence on the field and significant philanthropic and community impact off the field.

MLB has the Marvin Miller Man of the Year Award, which honours a player whose on-field performance and dedication to community service and charity inspires others.

The NHL has multiple awards in this vein, including the King Clancy Memorial Trophy, which is awarded annually to the player who best exemplifies leadership qualities on-and-off the ice and has made a noteworthy humanitarian contribution in his community.

We have the Cam Fella Award, but it’s to specifically honour someone for recent extreme meritorious service to the Canadian harness racing industry.

Forget about the industry itself for a minute. Why can’t we just honour someone who is simply a damn good soul?

I suggest something along the lines of the Scott Knight Person of the Year Award, which would be given annually to someone who was like Scott - a racing participant who is just a damn good human being. Period.

I guess as we get older, and we start to see old friends mostly at weddings and funerals, we sometimes take a step back and think. And in this world of social media bullshit, hate, worrisome A.I. and more - that I won’t specifically mention - after speaking and texting with some of Scott’s closest friends, some thinking is exactly what I did.

Let’s not wait to elevate those in society that are the ‘good guys.’ We need more good. Let’s not wait until we’re at their funerals before we share the tales about all the wonderful things that they did for those around them.

By the way, I’m not suggesting that Scott Knight’s family and friends were guilty of this, and in fact, when I was speaking to one of his very best friends, Ty O’Neill, and I suggested to him that’s what a lot of people tend to do but shouldn’t, I was thrilled when Ty told me this:

“Well, you know what? All I can say is, Dan, we kind of celebrated each other every day. I was probably at Scott’s house, or he was at my farm, three or four times a week; we talked on the phone every day…”

That made me, for one, very happy to hear. And where Scott and Ty are concerned at least, it somehow brought me great peace.

For some reason we’ve all been put on this Earth to share the same space and time. Scott Knight, by all accounts, didn’t waste any of his time here. I suggest that we all follow his lead.

Bless you Scott Knight. Bless your family and friends. May you Rest In Peace.

Dan Fisher
[email protected]