A total of 12 horses will be spread out over four qualifying races this Saturday (April 30) at Fredericton Raceway. One of those horses, Spots Shadow, is in to qualify for trainer Gary Beattie, who has been profiled by The Daily Gleaner ahead of the qualifying session.

The article explains that Beattie’s grandfather owned horses in the 1960s, which introduced Gary to the industry. The experience hooked him to the game. “I started going to the races as a kid, started hanging around the barns,” he was quoted as saying in the article.

The piece also states that Beattie graduated from UNB in 1980. He then immediately turned around and purchased a horse

Beattie, 57, is now a ‘hobby’ horseman. The article explains that he has found some success with Spots Shadow, who has been described as a bit of a reclamation project for Beattie.

“I bought him off the ‘trash heap,’ actually,” explained Beattie, who stated that Spots Shadow quickly won a race for him in 2014, but then suffered a season-ending hairline fracture.

Beattie won again with the pacer last year, but that was during a season in which Spots Shadow caught a virus, which, in turn, caused him to lose 150 pounds and much of his strength.

Gary’s 22-year-old son, Kent, earned his driver’s licence two years ago and now drives Spots Shadow. Horse Racing New Brunswick recently announced that there will be 16 race dates in the province this year. In turn, Gary is wondering how he will be able to stay in the game. Gary has said that he may send Spots Shadow to race on Prince Edward Island for the 2016 season, but that has not been written in stone yet.

The article states that New Brunswick horsepeople will be attending a meeting with HRNB next Thursday night (May 5). Gary has stated that those in attendance will be eager to hear HRNB’s rationale for the limited 2016 race-date schedule that has been announced for the province.

(With files from The Daily Gleaner)