Harness racing returned to British Columbia with the launch of the inaugural Standardbred meet at Desert Park Raceway in Osoyoos on a beautiful fall afternoon on Sunday, Sept. 27.
With prominent Canadian broadcaster Greg Blanchard calling the opening day action remotely and fans filling the track apron in the Okanagan Valley to witness harness racing history, the first eight races were held under blue skies and a picturesque mountain backdrop, culminating with Grey Sea winning the afternoon's featured $15,000 Fillies & Mares Open Pace in 1:58.2 for longtime Surrey, B.C. trainer Gord Abbott, with his son John in the sulky. The surface was rated "good" with a one-second variant, with some fine tuning still to come for the newly built five-eighths-mile harness track.
Sent postward as the 3-5 favourite in her return to action from a six-week layoff after beating Alberta's top distaffers in her last three starts, Grey Sea went straight to the lead from the outside post five and cruised through fractions of :27.3, :58.4 and 1:28.3 before a spicy stretch showdown ensued as Brandon Campbell pulled the Rebecca Kanak-trained Outlaw Spiced Rum from the pocket. Those two mares battled through the 247-metre long stretch, with Grey Sea ultimately prevailing by three-quarters of a length. Bewitched (Scott Knight) followed 2-1/2 lengths back in third.
"It’s honestly so great to have racing back in B.C.," John Abbott told Trot Insider after the victory. "My wife, kids and I were initially looking at relocating to Alberta this last spring/summer and racing today just solidified our decision to stay was a good one. It was an amazing turnout of people on the frontside. The excitement and happiness was a heartwarming sight.
"And I am so proud of everyone involved to get racing back going here in this province. Employees and members of HRBC, WCHRA and the people of Desert Park really deserve so much credit for the long days and amounts of stress and hurdles they faced. Perseverance has truly paid off."
A homebred for Seaspray Stables Ltd. of Nanaimo, B.C., Grey Sea had won her last race in the province in the spring of 2025 before the closure of Fraser Downs where she took her lifetime mark of 1:52.3. The seven-year-old Custard The Dragon-Preference mare has won eight of her 17 starts this year and now boasts 36 victories lifetime with earnings topping $330,000.
"Winning a race with 'The Grey' will never get old," said Abbott. "She is such a classy, tough and beautiful mare. She loves the game. I am always grateful to be sitting behind her and it was a great feeling today. My wife and kids got to be in the winner's photo today. That unfortunately has been a rare occurrence over the years and having them here on opening day meant so much.
"I am so happy for my dad," he added. "The grey is his baby and he puts his all into keeping her healthy and sound day in and day out. Racing the grey is such an all-around family event. My mom helps, my youngest brother and his girlfriend Alexa, everyone is hands on when she’s in. I’ve always thought of my dad as a great trainer and I look up to him. For him to have one of the top Open mares in western Canada for so many years and being on everyone’s radar is pretty cool. He deserves the respect and recognition with her."
While Grey Sea won the feature race on Desert Park's opening day card, Eric Shark and driver Brandon Campbell will go down in history as the first winners of the meet in 1:59 as they led all the way and drew off by 8-1/4 lengths down the long homestretch for Langley, B.C. trainer/owner Cody Easton. The five-year-old Vintage Master brother to Western Canada's fastest pacer Shark Week was the 2-5 favourite and paid $2.90 to win in the $6,600 conditioned pace. Tahuya Sriracha (Scott Knight) held off They Call Me Mr (Dave Hudon) in a photo finish for place.
Trainer Rebecca Kanak swept half of Sunday's races, including three in a row with Outlaw Playmymovie ($4.20) and Betterontherox ($6.40), both driven by Campbell, and Avas Angel Baby ($8.40), with longtime B.C. reinsman Scott Knight back in the winner's circle. Kanak picked up a fourth victory in the seventh race with the Campbell-driven Dillon James via a disqualification of first-place finisher Joe Rich (Rod Therres) after he went wide off the final turn and impeded the forward progress of runner-up in the photo finish.
Dave Hudon had a driving double, including a victory with the Rick Lancaster-trained four-year-old mare Fancy Fanny ($11.40) in 1:56.4 to record the fastest mile of the day. In the day's biggest upset, Hudon drove the debuting three-year-old filly Put A Coin Onit ($21.40) and defeated favourite Crop Top (Scott Knight) in a 1-2 finish for the Jim Marino stable.
Harness racing was last hosted in B.C. in the spring of 2025 at Fraser Downs in Surrey. Desert Park Exhibition Society's multi-use equestrian facility had previously hosted a couple of Standardbred exhibition races back in the summer of 2014 over a traditional Thoroughbred surface at the time.
Desert Park's 2026 harness racing meet, operated by the Western Canada Horse Racing Association, will continue next Sunday, Oct. 4 with more stables expected to arrive and fill fields in the coming weeks. Racing will be held on Sundays and Mondays at 2 p.m. (PT) through Dec. 14, with the exception of Oct. 25. B.C. Breeders Classic Day is scheduled for Dec. 13 with $100,000 finals of the B.C.-bred stakes for two and three-year-olds following two preliminary legs for each division. The B.C.-bred stakes for four-year-olds are scheduled for Oct. 18.
To view Sunday's harness racing results, click the following link: Sunday Results - Desert Park Raceway.
(Standardbred Canada)