The PEI Standardbred Horse Owners Association Annual Awards Banquet is scheduled to take place on Saturday night (April 29) and it's been announced that this year's Guest Speaker for the event will be Dan Fisher, Managing Director of TROT Magazine.
"TROT Magazine is very popular among the horsepeople of PEI," Gail MacDonald told Trot Insider, "and both the magazine and Dan's writing, particularly from his experience as a horseman, is really appreciated here. With his experiences both as a trainer and through his work at the magazine, we thought he'd be a great choice as our guest speaker this year."
"I'm very humbled by the honour," said Fisher. "I know that no other place in the world appreciates harness racing more than the people of PEI, so for them to invite me to speak at what is a very important event to them, is something that I take great pride in."
Fisher was raised on a small Standardbred hobby farm just north of Pickering, Ont., a 40 minute drive from Greenwood Raceway - two places where he fell in love with the sport. He was hot-walking horses by himself at the age of five, started jogging them at age nine, and bought into his first yearling at age 16. After graduating from the University of Ottawa he worked as an Ontario sales rep for sports equipment manufacturer Umbro while training a few horses on the side, but after two years of doing both he left the sales job to concentrate on the horses full-time. He maintained a small stable on the backstretches of Greenwood and Mohawk for approximately 14 years before joining TROT as the Director of Advertising in 2006. In 2018, he was named Managing Director of the magazine and has been at the helm ever since.
Also scheduled for this year's event in PEI will be the presentation of the special 'Kentucky Of Canada Award' — an award not necessarily presented every year.
This year's sold-out event takes place at the Rodd Charlottetown Hotel, with the reception starting at 6 p.m. and the banquet at 7 p.m.