A change of pace is on the horizon, but Ottawa horseman Guy Gagnon still has drive at 55.
The runaway leader yet again in driving wins and money at Rideau Carleton Raceway, Gagnon also was the top percentage trainer (0.434) in the nation among those with more than 200 starts, a twin peak of proficiency that has made him a finalist — along with Hall of Famer Carl Jamieson — in the Horsemanship category for the 2024 O'Brien Awards honouring the best in Canadian harness racing. Gagnon received the O'Brien in the same category in 2018.
"I'll be there for sure (at the O'Brien gala on Feb. 8) with my family," Gagnon said. "I appreciate the recognition. We had a good year and worked hard. It's always fun to be included with the best in Canada."
Guy Gagnon (fifth from right) receives his O'Brien Award of Horsemanship in 2018. (L-R) Patrick Therrien, Jo-Anne Labbé, Catheline Pelletier, Manon Gravel, Frédéric Gagnon, Louise Ricard, Gagnon, former Standardbred Canada Director Murielle Thomassin, Stéphanie Gagnon, Maxime Fournier, Chantal Gravel.
The Quebec native has been based in Ottawa for more than three decades and never aspired to go anywhere else, though he does race in southern Ontario when Rideau takes a three-month break in winter.
"Rideau just worked out," said the father of two. "I like it here. It's been good for our family life, and family is my priority."
Gagnon's wife, Louise Ricard, works for the local school commission. "She'll be retiring in two years and I'll take a more relaxed approach then...maybe reduce (the stable) to five or six, take some holidays, go to Florida in the winter," he said. "I never took holidays. It's been seven days a week for years."
For now, he maintains the demanding schedule of a 16-horse stable.
"No complaints. I like driving my own horses because I know how they've been prepared and what they can do," said Gagnon, who got his start in the business as a groom for trainer Jacques Beaudoin in Quebec City and won his first race at age 19 before striking out on his own as a driver-trainer. Most of his more than 6,000 wins have come in Ottawa, though he did capture six-figure stakes in Montreal with Quebec-breds Rosanne Ray and Agator Car in 1998 and 2000.
The stable's current supernova is seven-year-old pacer The Light Speed, who is up to 60 career wins and more than $400,000 in earnings for owner and breeder Michel Nolette.
"I got him at three, with $6,000 on his card," said Gagnon. "He's topped $100,000 every year, most of it coming in $10,000 races."
Gagnon still makes occasional forays onto the Quebec circuit at Hippodrome Trois-Rivieres, but does most of his racing at his home track, where he won with 29 percent of his drives in 2024 and accumulated 174 wins and about $1 million in purses.
"We had good horses, good owners, a good team," said Gagnon, whose operation is based at a farm in Gatineau, Que.
The 2024 O’Brien Award winners will be announced on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025, at the O’Brien Awards Gala, which will take place at the Delta Meadowvale / Mississauga in Mississauga, Ont. To reserve your tickets for the O'Brien Awards, please fill out the O'Brien Awards ticket reservation form and send it to Jade Regina at [email protected].
(A Trot Insider Exclusive by Paul Delean; photos courtesy Bente Nielsen, ThePhotoDesk.ca)