Photographer Turns Ambassador

"The fun thing is you can't talk about the photo without talking about the Gold Cup & Saucer. That's what I love about it. It is promoting P.E.I. racing."

The past month hasn't been the norm for Frances Lund, but her award-winning photo of Crombie A taken last year at Red Shores at the Charlottetown Driving Park has certainly enabled her to discuss and promote the crown jewel of Maritime harness racing across the continent.

"Lund was in Ontario in mid-February to capture the Media Excellence Award for Outstanding Photography at the 2015 O'Brien Awards. This past weekend, she traveled to Florida to receive the George Smallsreed Award for feature photography at the Dan Patch Awards.

The photo captured one of the most famous moments in Canadian harness racing from the past season, when torrential rains forced officials at Red Shores to postpone the traditional 12:00 a.m. post for the Gold Cup & Saucer and conduct the race the following day.

They did not tell me I had to give a speech," Lund told The Guardian in a recent interview. "We talked a lot about the Gold Cup and it blew them away that so many people came back for the race the next day."

Lund, who spent years working for the Maritime-based stables of James 'Roach' and Doug MacGregor, now concentrates her energy on capturing the action on and off the track in Charlottetown and Summerside.

"It shows people how much work and passion goes into these horses," Lund told The Guardian's Nick Oakes. "I'm there, and it makes people happy. It shows the dedication. It shows the people in the grandstand the whole 'behind the scenes.' I've never had someone mad at taking their picture. There is one person who doesn't want their photo being posted on Facebook and I honour that. The first year or so people were like 'what are you doing?' Now people are not nearly as guarded with their reactions. Me and my camera have become a part of race day."