Works of fiction often depict turning points as single moments upon which a given protagonist's momentum and fortunes — for no other reason — shift on a dime. Far more often, the reality is anything but that.
In the case of Kyle Bossence, his rise to success has been fairly quick — he took down the training titles at both The Raceway at the Western Fair District and Grand River Raceway in just his fifth full season operating a stable. And, despite being a third-generation horseman, the 30-year-old Ontario native made great strides in 2021 toward building his own name — so well that he garnered an O'Brien Award nomination in the Future Star category for the second time in his young career.
"I was definitely surprised again," Bossence told Trot Insider. "It's always good to be recognized. Everyone works hard in this business, so everyone deserves it just as much as me, I guess I would say. So it's always great to get that call or anything like that."
Bossence posted career-high numbers in 2021 despite a pandemic-shortened racing season, winning 69 of 316 races and banking over $440,000 in purses. Twenty-seven of those wins came during the summer meeting at Grand River, enough for him to secure his first training title at his de facto home track — a title that stands out as the highlight of his season.
"We had an exceptionally good year at Grand River this year," Bossence continued. "It's usually a fairly competitive track, a really tough track, generally, in the summer. It was a lot of fun racing there; it's close to home — it's kind of my hometown track... One horse, Partyintheshadows, I think he won three or four in a row there. Willyorwonthe had a pretty good summer there."
While racing opportunities were limited through parts of the past two years, Bossence and his team weren't idle. He jumped on the opportunity to build his own training facility just outside Arthur, Ont., complete with a half-mile track and a new barn, on his grandfather's old farm. And his stable — now 33 strong — set up shop there in June. With two training championships under his belt, with his own base of operations, and with he and his girlfriend, Tamara Vandewiel, expecting the arrival of their son literally any minute, things are looking bright for Bossence's future — and he's looking to parlay his current momentum into the next big leap forward with a shift toward training stakes hopefuls.
"We got a few more young horses this year," Bossence said. "I've got a couple three-year-olds that didn't race last year that we're waiting on and hoping can do big things this year. I'm hoping to move more into the stakes horses. That's always been the plan from the start, but you've got to work your way up to that. It'd be nice to have a good stakes horse and go from there."
There's no doubting that Kyle Bossence is rising rapidly on the Ontario harness racing scene, and that, from a solid groundwork established in his early years working under both family and Gregg McNair, he has made a number of clear steps forward in a short time to point him toward further ascent. There's also no doubting that, regardless of the result announced at Sunday's (Feb. 6) Virtual O'Brien Awards Gala, Bossence longs for a return to normalcy — where industry participants can gather and celebrate the sport's champions ... together:
"I got to go to the O'Briens once before, and it was a great time. There were a lot of people there; John Campbell was there. It was awesome seeing everyone. I loved it because it was great to see everyone outside of a racetrack. You know, there's no pressure there. It's just relaxed and a good time. You get to see all the people you see all the time, but it's just a different atmosphere there. You're there for fun. You know, like we're at the tracks for fun too, but it's business. It's nice to just kick back and relax and chat for the night and have fun."
The Virtual O’Brien Awards Gala can be viewed from 7 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. (EST) on Sunday, at standardbredcanada.ca.