Wittup Named HRBC Executive Director

It has been announced that former Standardbred Canada Chair Jackson Wittup has been appointed the new executive director of Harness Racing BC.

The announcement came from HRBC President Jim Vinnell.

Wittup’s appointment to the role of executive director was effective Friday, October 18.

“Jackson’s vast knowledge of the racing industry will be a great asset for the future of Harness Racing BC,” Vinnell said via statement.

Wittup, a longtime participant in the Canadian harness racing industry, is a past three-term Chair of Standardbred Canada and also served as the Director of Racing at Fraser Downs from the fall of 2008 until the spring of 2012.

“I went back to Calgary and freshened up, so to speak,” Wittup told Trot Insider about what he has been up to since his time at Fraser Downs.

Wittup said that during his downtime he was always in contact with people in racing, and that he was looking to get back into the industry in the right capacity.

“I have a passion for racing," said Wittup. "It is what I have done for 38 years.”

Speaking of the future of the industry in BC, Wittup told Trot Insider, “The British Columbia Government is willing to stay in racing, now it is up to the track operators and horsemen’s groups to make things happen.”