Camping trips have led to winner’s circle trips for Shannon and Kevin Rowe.
The Rowes took up camping a couple of years ago, which through a friendship they developed with their campground neighbour, Ferris Hazlett, eventually led to them acquiring a racehorse this past summer. The couple had no previous knowledge of harness racing but quickly embraced their new avocation.
“Ferris used to train horses when he was younger and he wanted to get back into it,” said Kevin Rowe. “He asked if we wanted to do it with him, and at first we said no thanks. But then we talked about it, and went back and forth, and thought it looked pretty cool. So, we said we would get one horse.
“We said we were stopping at one,” continued Rowe, adding with a laugh. “Then we said we were stopping at two. Then it was going to be four or five. And now we’re up to eight.
“If we’re going to do something, we like to go all in. We really get a thrill out of going to the track and watching our horses race. We’re having a blast.”
The Rowes, who reside in Rochester, New York, and own two retail markets specializing in meat sales, got their first win with the Hazlett-trained Downtown Tonight – a pacing mare who was their initial acquisition – in August at Batavia Downs. Since then, they have made eight more visits to the winner’s circle, with three different horses.
“We’re very big competitors, so we wanted to try to get a few horses that would be able to compete at Buffalo and Batavia,” said Rowe. “The biggest thrill is being able to get to the winner’s circle.
“We’ve learned a lot. Me and Shannon are very involved in making the decisions on the horses we buy. That’s been part of the fun for me, finding what I feel is the right horse to compete at these tracks.”
On Saturday, the Rowes and Hazlett will send out two horses at Buffalo Raceway. Confident, a four-year-old son of Tactical Landing-Anikadabra, will compete in a $13,500 USD conditioned trot in the afternoon’s first event. Seven races later, Captain Chesley, a six-year-old son of Tactical Landing-Magical Lady, will go behind the gate in the $15,500 USD Open Trot. Both horses are making their seasonal debuts.
Captain Chesley will be making his second start overall for the Rowes since they claimed him in November from Saratoga Casino Hotel. For his career, he has won 16 of 60 races and earned $152,491.
Confident was a three-time winner for the Rowes after they purchased him in an onGait.com auction in September. The gelding, who previously raced in Kentucky and Ohio, has won six of 23 lifetime starts, hit the board an additional seven times and earned $64,946.
“We feel that in another six months to a year, Confident will be the trotter to beat on these tracks,” said Rowe. “We’ve very optimistic.”
In addition to enjoying harness racing themselves, the Rowes have turned their pursuit into something of a family affair, with the couple’s five adult children and a four-year-old granddaughter also involved as fans.
“They all really love to go and watch the races,” said Rowe. “It’s great to see the generations following us into it.”
All because they decided to take up camping a couple of years ago.
“We never dreamed that we would be camping, nor did we dream that we’d own eight horses,” said Rowe. “But we’re having a lot of fun doing both.”
(USTA; photo of Confident in the winner’s circle with, from left, Bonnie Hazlett, trainer Ferris Hazlett, Kevin Rowe holding granddaughter Kordelia, Shannon Rowe and driver Justin Huckabone)