"Horse racing is a prime example of diversity, in both people and their equine counterparts, bringing together people from all walks of life. For some, the friendships formed transcend provincial barriers as their mutual passion for harness racing creates lifelong memories."

Fourth-generation horsewoman Christina Gillis tells her favourite racing memory, growing up in Nova Scotia. An active member of the Truro Harness Horse Owners Association, she is a vital part of the team organizing events and promotions for the track, as well as a huge supporter of youth involvement in racing.

In the thick of things at a young age, she picked up her groom's license at eight years old and became an owner ten years later with her first horse, Chris N Tel Arrow, who just foaled a colt by Electric Stena at her parents’ farm in Truro. Now 26 and soon heading to Ontario to the University of Guelph in September, her harness racing memory proves that passion for the sport knows no boundaries.

Coming from a smaller track in Atlantic Canada, there were not many other horse people my age at my home track, Truro Raceway. Race days were primarily a family affair, which they still are, but it was always nice when my friend, Haley MacDonald, daughter of Clare and Kenny MacDonald, of Antigonish, Nova Scotia would be at the races with her parents.

Haley and I would look forward to our Sundays at the races together. Over the course of the years, my family took an interest in breeding and the Atlantic Sire Stakes program that is strong in the Maritime region, something Haley’s family had an interest in too. When we began to travel for the ATSS program, my family, along with Haley’s, would make many road trips together.

We were on the road every weekend, whether it be to Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick or Cape Breton, we would be in the truck with the horses in tow. When we arrived at the other tracks across the Maritimes we got to know other horse people our age and the rest is history.

We found friendships with young horse people like ourselves and they turned into friendships of a lifetime. We would meet up all over the Atlantic provinces and spend one day of the week together at the races, lending a hand when we could and making memories to last forever. Each track in the Maritime provinces host their own special week of racing and we all loved those weeks, one of our favorites being Old Home Week, in Charlottetown, PEI.

The “trackies” as we called ourselves were from near and far, spread out across three provinces, so it was always a treat when we got to spend entire week with each other in one place. All of our families stem from a long line of harness racing roots, and they took each of us in like we were a part of their own family. From this, we established our own “track family”.

As we have grown older, we still manage to find ourselves at all corners of the world but heavily involved in the harness racing industry and each other’s lives. We are still all in contact on a regular basis and on top of the accomplishments we have all made on and off the track. The harness racing community is very diverse and strongly competitive, but at the end of the day, it is the relationships we build at the track that keep us coming back for more.

I am so lucky to have met the people I have through the harness racing industry, especially my “trackies.” We have learned a lot from each other and have understood one another in ways that people outside the industry may not. Therefore, I cannot choose just one memory with these people as a favorite, but all of our memories together add up to one big gift.

This was a memory shared by Christina Gillis and entered in the I Love Canadian Harness Racing Fan Club’s Favourite Racing Memory contest. This is one of five stories (previous ones here and here) that will be featured leading up to the Bring A Friend weekend that is happening nationwide from July 9-12.