A ‘New’ Look For Simard Saturday

Richard Simard has announced that he will be donating his five per cent driving commission from this weekend’s 2018 Eastern Ontario / Quebec Regional Driving Championship to the Ontario Standardbred Adoption Society. He has also announced that he will be sporting some ‘new’ threads during the competition.

To clarify, the driving suit that Simard will be wearing this Saturday (June 30) at Kawartha Downs is actually not new whatsoever. As a matter of fact, it’s relatively old – old enough that many people have probably never seen it.

Simard, who has recorded more than 5,800 driving wins over the course of his career, represented Canada during the 1997 World Driving Championship, which was held in Russia and ultimately won by Germany’s Heinz Wewering. Simard donned Canada’s red and white during the competition, and, when the proceedings were over, he preserved the unique driving silks.

For the most part, Simard’s red and white suit has sat dormant for more than 20 years. According to ‘The Black Cat,’ Saturday is going to be the perfect time for him to bust out his old duds, seeing as though he will be sparring on the track in hopes of possibly representing Canada in the global competition once again.

The top two drivers from Saturday’s regional competition will join six other drivers at the 2018 National Driving Championship (NDC) at Grand River Raceway on Wednesday, September 26. The winner of the 2018 NDC will have the opportunity to represent Canada in the World Driving Championship (WDC), and join 2017 World Driving Champion James MacDonald in the 2019 WDC in Sweden.

All driving-suit discussions aside, Simard’s most important announcement was that he will be donating his five per cent driving commission from his EOQRDC mounts to the Ontario Standardbred Adoption Society (OSAS).

An approved charitable organization, OSAS was founded in 1996 to assist in the adoption and relocation of retired and non-racing Standardbred horses within Ontario. The society is operated by its own board of directors and is funded, in part, through fundraising, horse industry organizations, and by private donations. The program helps to educate and assist in the re-training and management of the horses. The society matches the desires and the abilities of each adoptive family to the temperament and capabilities of the horse. The society’s follow-up on each horse after adoption adds to the strength of the worthwhile program. For complete information on OSAS, click here.

The draw for the 2018 Eastern Ontario / Quebec Regional Driving Championship is now complete. To view Saturday's entries, click on one of the following links: Kawartha Downs - Saturday Entries - Program Pages (courtesy TrackIT).The EOQRDC dashes have been carded as races 1, 3, and 5 through 8. For complete information on the EOQRDC, click here.

First-race post time for Kawartha’s Saturday's card of racing is 7:00 p.m. (ET).

Richard Simard, pictured pulling his 1997 World Driving Championship colours out of retirement (Image courtesy Richard Simard)