For the fourth consecutive year, National Caretaker Appreciation Day (NCAD) events were held across the country this past week (September 20 – 26) as 10 racetracks, along with numerous farms, stables and training centres recognized and rewarded caretakers in partnership with Standardbred Canada.
Participating tracks included: Century Downs Racetrack & Casino, Flamboro Downs, Grand River Raceway, Hippodrome 3R, Kawartha Downs, Leamington Raceway, Red Shores – Charlottetown Driving Park & Summerside locations, Truro Raceway and Woodbine Mohawk Park.
Caretakers, the foundation of our industry, were recognized and rewarded in many ways at the racetracks, and many put their own unique touches on their events but most featured:
• Recognition of all caretakers racing horses on the day’s card – announcement of names during post parades and or winner’s circle; group photos of caretakers
• Awards or prizes for caretakers of winning horses
• Special edition race programs, video productions and interviews with caretakers
• Refreshments and a gift for all caretakers racing on the day’s card
• Draw prizes for gift cards, apparel and more
A long list of individuals and groups provided sponsorships, gifts and other contributions to this year’s National Caretaker Appreciation Day. A special thank you is extended to the following individuals and groups:
Kawartha Downs celebrated the day with a special gift donated by Stacey Currie. She provided custom NCAD lead shanks and a bag of carrots to caretakers of the winning horses.
Tyler Borth and Scott Wray supported the event at Leamington Raceway with their generous donation of gift cards for caretakers in each race throughout the day.
At Woodbine Mohawk Park, all winner's circle presentations were sponsored by Adriano Sorella and Jimmy Freight. Many other individuals and groups generously donated to the event at WMP, you can view the list of sponsors here.
For the third consecutive year, TheStable.ca thanked their caretaking staff with a lunch party and received more than $5,000 from their owners in donations to support the party through their GoFundMe campaign.
Central Ontario Standardbred Association (COSA) sponsored NCAD events at participating Ontario tracks by providing 10 HPI cards per track that were either distributed to the winning caretakers or awarded by random draws.
SC would like to thank all of the organizers of NCAD events across the country for their exceptional efforts in recognizing and rewarding the caretakers. A special thank you to all of the industry participants and stakeholders who supported events through generous donations and sponsorship.
We would also like to thank the caretakers across the country who put the horses first, keeping them healthy and happy, and for everything they do to keep the races going!
Caretakers, we’d love to get your feedback if you were at an event. Click here to take a very short survey. We’ll have a draw for a $50 gift card with everyone who takes the survey by Monday, Oct. 4.